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i 


Viscount  Kim,  one  of  the  two  who  have  petitioned 
and  are  prosecuted. 


The 

Rebirth  of  Korea 

The  Reawakening  of  the  People 
Its   Causes,  and    the   Outlook 


BY 
HUGH  HEUNG-WO  CYNN 

Principal  Pai  Chai  Haktang, 
Seoul,  Korea 


THE  ABINGDON  PRESS 
NEW  YORK  CINCINNATI 


^ 

cP 


Copyright,  1920,  by 
HUGH  HEUNG-WO  CYNN 


Jfr"- 


,~*t****'t'      .»»•*•      •    t 


TO  THE 
WOMEN 

IN 
KOREA 


435780 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Introduction 9 

Foreword 11 

PART  I 

chapter  THE  REBIRTH 

I.  The  Historic  March  Fh*st 15 

II.  Agitation  and  Repression 33 

III.  Christian  Missions  Face  to  Face  with 

Militarism —  -  \ —     61 

PART  II 

CAUSES 

IV.  Japanese  Administration 83 

V.  Japanese  Administration  (Continued) .     99 

VI.  The  Rise  of  Democratic  Sphut 126 

PART  III 

CONCLUSION 

VII.  Japan's  Policy  and  Korea 151 

VIII.  Democracy  and  the  Future  of  Korea  171 

APPENDICES 

A. — An  Opinion  of  Missionaries 191 

B. — A  Statement  of  Missionary  Position 

on  Korean  Agitation 215 

C. — The  Korean  Situation 220 

D. — Treaty  of  Amity  and  Commerce.  .  .  223 


CONTENTS 


PAGES 


E. — The  Japanese-Korean  Treaty 237 

F. — Supplementary     Treaty     between 

Japan  and  Korea 244 

G. — Protocol  Concluded  between  Japan 

and  Korea 251 

H. — Agreement     between    Japan    and 

Korea,  Signed  August  22,  1904. . .  254 
I. — Agreement     between     Japan     and 

Korea,  Signed  April  1,  1905 256 

J. — Agreement   Respecting  the  Coast 

Trade  of  Korea 261 

K. — Agreement    between    Japan    and 

Korea,  Signed  November  17, 1905  265 
L. — Agreement     between    Japan     and 

Korea,  Signed  July  24, 1907 268 

M. — The  Treaty  of  Annexation,  Signed 

August  29,  1910 271 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

Viscount  Kim,  one  of  the  two  who  have 
petitioned  and  are  prosecuted. 

— Frontispiece 

FACING   PAGE 

Crowd  shouting  "Mansei!"  in  front  of 
Tuksoo  Palace,  Seoul,  March  1, 
1919 16 

The  Independence  Gate,  outside  of  West 

Gate,  Seoul 48 

Map  of  Korea,  showing  principal  areas 
where     the     demonstrations    took 

PLACE 62 


INTRODUCTION 

Any  contribution  of  fact  or  interpretation 
touching  the  Korean  situation  will  be  wel- 
come at  this  time  to  all  true  friends  of  Korea. 
There  is  a  special  value  in  the  statement  and 
conclusions  of  one  who  has  had  the  training 
of  Mr.  Hugh  H.  Cynn  and  the  opportunities 
which  have  been  his  for  obtaining  information 
at  first  hand.  Educated  in  the  University  of 
Southern  California,  Mr.  Cynn  has  been  for 
several  years  the  principal  of  the  Pai  Chai 
School  in  Seoul.  His  duties  have,  on  the  one 
hand,  kept  him  in  close  contact  with  the 
Japanese  educational  authorities,  while  on  the 
other  he  has  been  in  sympathetic  relations  with 
his  own  people  for  whom  he  is  a  loyal  cham- 
pion. He  has  been  modest,  temperate,  and 
firm  in  securing  and  protecting  the  rights  of 
the  important  school  which  has  grown  steadily 
under  his  leadership,  and  has  devoted  himself 
to  its  interests.  One  who  reads,  however, 
what  is  herein  recorded  will  find  a  spirit  which 
is  concerned  with  issues  outside  of  the  academic 
realm.  The  author  is  a  Christian  and  a  patriot, 
eager  for  the  best  that  Korea  can  achieve, 
convinced  of  the  justice  of  his  country's  appeal 

9 


10     'f. .......  INTRODUCTION 

for  freedom  and  self-government,  satisfied,  if 
once  the  main  contention  is  accepted,  to  make 
progress  by  delay  if  the  time  for  full  autonomy 
shall  seem  not  yet  to  have  come.  Mr.  Cynn 
has  a  wide  circle  of  acquaintances  and  friends, 
Koreans,  Japanese,  American.  To  them  there 
will  be  a  peculiar  interest  in  these  candid 
chapters  in  which,  with  clearness  and  courage, 
he  makes  record  of  his  impressions  and  his 
convictions. 

Frank  Mason  North. 


FOREWORD 

To  be  an  "author"  in  a  tongue  that  is  not 
his  native  has  never  been  the  ambition  of  the 
writer.  When  he  left  Seoul,  his  home  city, 
in  the  latter  part  of  last  April,  to  come  to 
America  for  a  short  visit,  it  was  his  intention 
merely  to  return  as  soon  as  the  business  for 
which  he  was  coming  was  finished.  When  the 
time  for  the  intended  return  came,  however, 
several  friends  suggested  to  him  to  give  a 
series  of  lectures  in  some  of  the  Eastern  institu- 
tions of  learning  before  leaving,  and  wisdom 
counseled  the  acceptance. 

While  preparing  for  the  lectures  the  thought 
of  putting  them  in  some  permanent  form  and 
presenting  before  the  public  as  an  interpreta- 
tion of  one  of  the  phases  of  Korean  life  grad- 
ually developed,  and  with  encouragements  re- 
ceived from  his  American  friends  he  has  ven- 
tured into  a  field  entirely  new  to  him. 

Chapters  IV  and  V  are  taken  from  a  report 
made  before  the  executive  members  of  the 
Commission  on  Relation  with  the  Orient  of  the 
Federal  Council  of  the  Churches  of  Christ 
in  America  in  the  early  part  of  last  June.  The 
other  chapters  were  given  in  substance  in  the 

11 


12  FOREWORD 

Drew  Theological  Seminary  and  the  Boston 
University,  in  three  lectures  at  each  place. 

The  writer  has  no  apology  to  make  on  the 
subject-matter;  he  only  feels  a  keen  regret 
at  the  inadequacy  in  the  presentation.  For 
obvious  reasons  he  has  depended  almost  en- 
tirely upon  the  government  reports  for  statis- 
tics and  official  statements  and  upon  such 
other  documents  and  testimonies  that  are 
quite  well  authenticated  and  known  by  this 
time. 

As  he  now  turns  his  face  again  toward  the 
Far  East,  he  wishes  to  avail  himself  of  this 
opportunity  to  express  his  very  deep  appre- 
ciation of  the  courtesies  and  kindnesses  shown 
him  by  Dr.  Frank  Mason  North,  of  New  York, 
Dr.  John  Franklin  Goucher,  of  Baltimore,  and 
the  Rev.  Bishop  Herbert  Welch,  of  Seoul, 
Korea.  While  these  gentlemen  have  no  respon- 
sibility for  any  part  of  the  contents,  their  per- 
sonal sympathy  and  helpful  encouragement, 
during  some  of  the  blackest  moments,  have 
enabled  the  writer  to  make  an  attempt  and 

complete  the  task. 

Hugh  Heung-wo  Cynn. 
New  York  City, 
October  24,  1919. 


PART  ONE 
THE  REBIRTH 


CHAPTER  I 

THE  HISTORIC  MARCH  FIRST 

"Mansei!  Mansei!  M-a-n-s-e-i  !"  Ten 
thousand  years  for  Korea!  Long  live  Korea! 
Thus  in  the  midst  of  mighty  shouts  the  Korea 
that  had  been  "dead  and  buried"  for  eight 
and  a  half  years  "rose  from  the  dead"  at  two 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon  of  the  first  day  of 
March,  1919.  A  different  nation  this  reborn 
Korea  is  from  the  old,  of  whose  passing  an 
author  wrote  over  a  decade  before.  The 
tragic  cry  she  uttered  in  her  last  moment  was, 
"My  God,  my  God,  why  hast  thou  forsaken 
me?"  Now  her  inspiring  and  assuring  words 
are,  "Be  not  afraid:  go  tell  my  brethren." 
Be  not  afraid,  you  who  abandoned  me  in  my 
hour  of  trial;  be  not  afraid,  you  who  have 
done  me  to  death,  for  I  am  not  going  to  be 
revengeful;  be  not  afraid,  you  my  children 
who  have  suffered  so  much  in  humiliation  and 
despair.  Go  tell  my  brethren,  men  of  all 
colors  and  races,  to  take  courage,  for  right- 
eousness will  soon  triumph.  My  fullest  realiza- 
tion is  not  yet,  but  it  is  bound  to  come,  be- 
cause I  am  fighting  on  the  side  of  "God  the 

15 


16  THE  REBIRTH  OP  KOREA 

Invisible  King,"  and  my  rebirth  is  dedicated 
to  making  the  world  safe  for  righteous  living. 

Ever  since  the  signing  of  the  armistice  there 
were  visible  many  evidences  of  a  new  spirit 
rising  among  the  Korean  people.  The  con- 
scienceless might  that  trampled  down  under 
foot  every  vestige  of  international  law  and 
personal  rights  was  at  last  humbled  before  the 
banner  of  "righteousness  and  humanity,"  and 
the  erstwhile  "supermen"  sued  for  peace  at 
the  hand  of  an  academician.  The  hateful  dis- 
tortion of  truth,  which  was  made  to  say,  "Might 
is  right"  is  changed  back  so  as  to  declare  that 
"Right  makes  might."  Hope  leaped,  and  faith 
in  a  righteous  cause  mounted  on  its  wings. 

Then,  again,  Korea's  sons  and  daughters 
did  not  witness  in  vain  the  heroism  and  sac- 
rifice of  the  millions  who  fought  with  cool 
courage  and  impetuous  daring  in  the  trenches 
and  "over  the  top"  in  "No  Man's  Land";  and 
who  worked  with  patience  and  devotion  in 
the  factories  and  in  the  homes.  The  stories 
so  full  of  pathos  and  inspiration  told  by  Hankey 
and  Casalis  and  a  host  of  others  moved  the 
hearts  of  many  who  heard  them,  very  pro- 
foundly. The  exploits  of  Guynemer  and 
D'Annunzio  thrilled  and  impelled  the  minds  of 
the  young  people  to  something  sublime  and 
self-sacrificing.    The  shining  and  soaring  ideals 


THE  HISTORIC  MARCH  FIRST      17 

of  President  Wilson  flashed  from  one  continent 
to  another,  and  his  clear  and  keen  notes  rang 
from  shore  to  shore.  All  these  things,  con- 
trasted with  their  own  unendurable  condi- 
tions, made  the  Korean  people  impatient  with 
the  gods  that  withheld  from  them  an  oppor- 
tunity to  express  their  yearnings  and  to  attain 
their  hearts'  desires.  What  less  could  be  ex- 
pected of  the  Koreans,  who  have  a  proud  his- 
tory of  over  forty  centuries,  and  whose  hearts 
have  been  steeled  by  ten  years  of  military 
rule  of  another  people?  The  New  Korea  had 
to  rise,  and  it  did  rise. 

On  that  memorable  March  1st  there  were 
more  than  two  hundred  thousand  people  on 
the  streets  of  Seoul.  The  state  funeral  of  the 
former  Emperor  of  Korea,  who  died  in  Jan- 
uary, was  to  take  place  two  days  later;  and 
special  trains  had  been  running  for  days, 
bringing  people  from  all  over  the  country, 
who  wanted  to  pay  their  last  respect  to  the 
memory  of  one  in  whom  all  the  bygone  days 
of  national  independence  was  symbolized. 
Every  inn  and  every  home  was  full  to  the 
uttermost  limit  with  people.  The  whole  na- 
tion was  in  the  most  profound  mourning,  as 
never  before  on  any  other  similar  occasion. 
Flags  draped  with  black  crape  were  spon- 
taneously  hung   out   from   every   house,   and 


18  THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

even  school  children  of  six  to  ten  years  of  age 
wore  marks  of  mourning.  There  were  signs  of 
unanimity  and  determination  on  the  part  of 
young  and  old  alike.  For  days  and  nights  the 
square  before  the  palace  gate  and  the  main 
thoroughfares  were  thronged  with  mourners. 

Before  the  dawn  of  that  day  there  was  an 
extraordinary  incident,  which  roused  the  keen- 
est interest  of  everybody.  A  handbill  was 
posted  and  distributed  throughout  the  south- 
western section  (the  busiest  section)  of  the 
city,  and  it  said  that  the  former  Emperor  was 
treacherously  poisoned  by  hired  traitors  upon 
his  refusal  to  sign  a  paper,  which  was  said  to 
have  declared  that  Korea  was  perfectly  happy 
under  the  Japanese  regime,  and  which  was 
said  to  have  been  used  in  case  of  necessity  as 
a  counter  instrument  against  the  Koreans  try- 
ing to  get  a  hearing  of  the  Peace  Conference 
at  Versailles.  This,  added  to  the  fact  of  the 
sudden  and  mysterious  death  of  the  former 
Emperor,  fired  the  people  with  new  indigna- 
tion and  horror.  At  about  ten  o'clock  one 
of  the  Christian  schools  for  boys  near  the 
West  Gate  was  surrounded  by  police,  and  the 
class  rolls  of  the  preceding  day  were  minutely 
examined  and  the  office  staff  was  closely  ques- 
tioned. At  one  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  the 
police  rushed   to  the   Central   Young   Men's 


THE  HISTORIC  MARCH  FIRST       19 

Christian  Association  and  instituted  a  search  of 
the  buildings  as  well  as  of  every  member  of 
the  staff  and  all  the  employees.  The  atmos- 
phere of  the  whole  city  was  electrified  with 
some  vague  expectancy,  mingled  with  anxiety 
and  boldness. 

While  this  search  was  going  on,  all  of  a 
sudden,  as  a  bolt  from  the  blue  sky,  in  the 
neighboring  park,  the  Pagoda  Park,  a  young 
man  mounted  the  pavilion,  held  up  a  paper, 
and  began  to  read  in  a  loud  voice.  The  crowd 
had  already  been  great,  but  this  unusual  pro- 
cedure soon  gathered  an  immense  mass  of 
people,  who  strained  their  ears  to  listen;  and 
to  their  astonishment  and  joy  it  was  the 
Declaration  of  Independence  of  Korea!  The 
salient  points  of  the  text  are  here  given: 

"We  herewith  proclaim  Korea  an  independ- 
ent state  and  her  people  free.  We  announce 
it  to  the  nations  of  the  world,  and  we  also 
make  it  known  to  our  posterity  for  ten  thousand 
generations  that  they  may  -hold  this  right  as 
free  people  for  all  time.  .  .  . 

"Victims  of  the  inheritance  of  an  ancient 
age  of  plunder  and  brute  force,  we  have  come, 
for  the  first  time  in  our  history  of  thousands 
of  years,  to  taste  for  a  decade  the  bitterness  of 
oppression  by  an  alien  race.  How  great  a  loss 
to  the  right  of  existence,  what  a  hindrance  to 


20  THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

the  development  of  mind,  what  damage  to  the 
honor  of  our  people,  what  lack  of  opportunity 
for  any  originality  we  may  possess  to  contribute 
to  or  aid  in  the  onward  march  of  civilization! 

"We  do  not  wish  to  find  fault  with  Japan 
who  made  so  favorable  a  treaty  with  us  in 
1876,  for  insincerity  in  breaking,  time  and 
again,  this  and  that  provision  of  that  solemn 
agreement,  nor  blame  her  lack  of  honesty  when 
her  literati,  speaking  from  the  platform,  and 
their  officials,  by  their  acts,  count  the  inher- 
itance of  our  fathers  as  a  colony  of  their  own, 
or  treat  our  civilization  as  that  of  savages, 
only  to  be  satisfied  when  they  have  beaten  us 
to  submission  and  put  to  shame  the  founda- 
tions of  our  society  and  pur  best  mental  en- 
deavors. 

"We,  who  have  special  need  to  reprimand 
ourselves,  should  not  spend  time  on  the  faults 
of  others;  we,  who  need  to  organize  for  the 
present,  should  not  waste  a  moment  in  finding 
fault  with  the  past.  Our  one  responsibility  is 
to  establish  ourselves  and  not  to  pull  down 
others.  In  line  with  the  dictate  of  a  clear 
conscience  our  duty  is  to  break  up  the  fallow 
ground  of  our  new  destiny,  and,  not  for  a 
moment,  through  long  smothered  resentment 
or  passing  anger,  spitefully  attack. 


THE  HISTORIC  MARCH  FIRST       21 

"Our  wish  is  to  move  the  Japanese  govern- 
ment, bound  though  it  is  with  old  ideas  and 
passed-by  influences,  a  victim  of  the  love  of 
fame  that  acts  and  manifests  itself  in  un- 
natural and  unreasonable  errors,  to  change  to 
something  better  and  return  by  a  straight  road 
to  the  place  of  innocence. 

"The  result  of  unasked-for  annexation  has 
been  oppression,  timeserving  partiality,  statis- 
tics based  on  false  reports  intended  to  show  the 
opposite  of  the  truth  in  a  profit-and-loss  ac- 
count between  our  two  peoples.  The  farther 
they  go  the  deeper  they  dig  a  trench  of  resent- 
ment between  us  that  no  reconciliation  can 
bridge.    Behold  the  present  result. 

"Let  them  make  right  what  is  wrong  and,  by 
a  just  comprehension  based  upon  sympathy, 
open  up  a  new  and  kindly  relationship  which 
shall  put  an  end  to  trouble  and  bring  blessing 
to  both.    Is  not  their  need  this  realization? 

"Independence  for  us  to-day,  while  it  means 
an  honor  due  Korea,  at  the  same  time  means 
Japan's  departure  from  an  unjust  way  to  one 
in  which  she  may  truly  assume  the  great  re- 
sponsibility of  the  protector  of  the  Far  East, 
as  well  as  removing  from  China  those  disturb- 
ing fears  which  she  cannot  escape  even  in  her 
sleep.     It  means  too  a  step  toward  the  peace 


£*  THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

and  happiness  of  the  whole  human  race,  in 
which  the  peace  of  the  Far  East  is  so  important 
a  part.  This  is  not  a  question  which  rests  on 
trivial  emotion. 

"A  new  world  is  opening  before  our  eyes; 
the  age  of  force  departs  and  that  of  truth  and 
righteousness  comes  in.  The  refined,  clarified 
mind  of  humanity,  matured  and  trained  by  the 
ages  of  the  past,  now  begins  to  cast  the  morning 
light  of  a  new  civilization  on  the  history  of 
the  race.  A  new  spring  is  dawning  and  all 
life  hastens  to  awake.  As  insects,  paralyzed 
by  the  season  of  ice  and  chilling  snow,  under 
the  influence  of  soft  winds  and  warm  sunshine, 
return  to  life  and  being,  so  do  we,  beholding 
the  renewal  of  the  world  and  the  turning  of 
the  tide  of  the  age,  step  forward  without 
hesitation  or  fear. 

"Holding  fast  to  the  inherent  right  of  lib- 
erty, let  us  find  satisfaction  in  the  pursuit  of 
happiness,  and,  developing  our  distinctive  abil- 
ity which  alone  can  satisfy  the  heart,  let  the 
inner  nature  of  our  people  bloom  forth  in  the 
great  world  flooded  with  the  light  of  spring. 

"We  now  rise  in  power.  Our  conscience  is 
with  us  and  truth  accompanies  us.  We  awake, 
without  distinction  of  age  or  sex,  from  the 
old  nest  of  gloom  into  an  activity  in  which  all 
creation  will  attain  to  a  joyous  resurrection. 


THE  HISTORIC  MARCH  FIRST       23 

The  spirits  of  past  generations  inspire  us,  un- 
seen, while  the  forces  of  the  world  assist  us 
from  without.  A  beginning  means  a  successful 
completion.  All  that  is  required  is  to  press 
forward  toward  the  light  that  shines  before. 

"Three  Items  of  Agreement  : 

"1.  Our  work  to-day  is  the  demand  any 
people  would  make  in  behalf  of  truth,  human- 
ity, life,  and  honor,  so  let  us  manifest  the 
spirit  of  independence  only,  and  not  the  spirit 
of  strife. 

"2.  To  the  last  man  and  very  end,  let  each 
one  express  his  real  opinion. 

"3.  Let'  everything  be  done  in  order,  so  that 
our  purpose  and  attitude,  in  every  circum- 
stance, may  commend  themselves  as  right. 

"The  4252d  year  "Representatives  of  the  People: 

of  the  Kingdom  (Signed)  Son  Pyeng-heui,  Kil  Sun-joo, 

of  Chosen,  and  thirty-one  other  names.", 
March  1st." 

After  finishing  the  reading,  the  young  man 
lifted  his  arms  high  in  the  air  and  began  a 
rousing  cheer  for  Korea,  which  was  instantly 
caught  up  by  the  impassioned  throng,  and  in 
the  twinkle  of  an  eye,  the  surging  mass  of 
people  in  the  Park  and  in  the  main  thorough- 
fare adjoining  were  giving  deafening  cheers  for 


U  THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

the  independence  of  Korea.  Soon,  from  the 
East  Gate  to  the  West  Gate  and  from  the 
Bell  Tower  in  the  center  of  the  city  to  the 
South  Gate,  a  veritable  pandemonium  of  en- 
thusiasm and  joy  reigned.  Students  with  books 
in  one  hand  and  uplifted  cap  in  the  other; 
stately  white-robed  old  gentlemen  with  their 
hoary  beards  flowing  and  their  wrinkled  hands 
waving;  young  girls  with  their  dark  skirts 
streaming  and  upturned  faces  shining;  elderly 
ladies  with  their  characteristic  green  veils  on 
top  of  the  immaculate  dress;  mechanics  with 
their  rolled-up  sleeves  and  some  of  them  with 
tools  still  in  hand;  sons  of  the  rich  with  their 
shimmering  silk  coats  flying;  rustic  farmers 
with  horny  fingers  and  bony  arms  lifted  toward 
the  blue  heavens;  stocky-limbed  cart-pullers 
with  their  long  white  cloth  wound  tightly 
round  the  head  and  hung  loosely  behind;  staid 
and  substantial-looking  merchants  and  shop- 
keepers, some  with  their  long  pipes,  and 
others  with  pen  either  in  their  hands  or  behind 
their  ears;  fat  and  plump  youngsters  with  their 
baggy  wadded  pantaloons,  some  in  wooden 
shoes,  and  some  in  silk  slippers;  smart-looking 
young  men  dressed  in  European  style  and 
wearing  rimless  spectacles;  and  men  and  women 
of  every  and  sundry  description,  age,  and  rank 
— one   and    all — were    in   a   happy    delirium, 


THE  HISTORIC  MARCH  FIRST       25 

shouting,    "Mansei!    Mansei!     Tok-rip    Man- 
seir 

All  this  time,  what  were  the  thirty-three 
signers  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence  do- 
ing? Before  they  delegated  the  young  man  to 
go  to  the  Pagoda  Park  to  read  the  Declaration 
before  the  public  they  met  in  formal  session  in 
the  Tai-Wha  Kwan,  "Seoul's  Galerie  des 
Glasces.  Like  the  palace  of  Versailles,  here 
the  independence  of  Korea  was  signed  away 
ten  years  ago  and  here  the  first  proclamation 
of  freedom  was  issued  March  1st,  1919."  It 
is  said  that  all  the  Japanese  high  officials  had 
been  invited  to  the  function,  and  that  there 
had  come  one,  representing  all  the  others  who 
had  official  duties  elsewhere.  In  due  form 
they  read  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  and 
drank  success  to  the  movement  that  was  thus 
launched  out.  (Imagine  the  consternation  of 
the  Japanese  official  present!)  They  then  im- 
mediately notified  the  police  what  they  had 
done  and  where  they  were.  The  wonderful 
police,  who  claim  to  be  second  only  to  that 
of  Germany,  and  who  struck  such  a  terror  in 
the  minds  of  the  Koreans  that  the  austerity  of 
their  mere  presence  prevented  the  "conspir- 
ators" from  harming  Count  Terauchi  in  1911, 
were  searching  the  pockets  and  purses  in  the 
Y.   M.  C.  A.,   while   this   epoch-making  pro- 


26  THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

ceeding  was  going  on  less  than  a  block 
away! 

The  police  immediately  surrounded  the  res- 
taurant and  "succeeded"  in  putting  them  under 
arrest.  There  were  fifteen  who  belonged  to 
the  Chundoism  (Religion  of  Heavenly  Path), 
fifteen  Christians  (mostly  preachers),  and  three 
Buddhists.  Motor  cars  from  neighboring 
garages  were  hurriedly  commandeered,  and  they 
were  taken  to  the  Central  Police  Headquarters 
below  the  South  Mountain.  On  their  way  the 
streets  were  so  dense  with  people  and  the 
cheerings  were  so  vociferous,  it  is  said,  that 
the  police  escorting  the  prisoners  had  also  to 
cheer  as  a  ruse.  The  overflowing  enthusiasm 
and  the  utter  disregard  for  themselves  of  the 
men  arrested  were  illustrated  by  their  dis- 
tribution of  copies  of  the  Declaration  right  and 
left  from  the  motor  cars  as  they  were  being 
borne  away  to  their  destination  of  unknowns 
and  unknowables. 

At  this  point  the  crowd  divided  itself  into 
three  groups.  One  headed  for  the  Tuksoo 
Palace,  where  the  body  of  the  former  Emperor 
was  lying  in  state,  and  where  all  the  members 
of  the  former  imperial  family  were  gathered 
in  mourning,  and  entered  the  square  within 
the  precinct.  Here  they  gave  three  cheers, 
and   withdrew  very   quietly.     Another  group 


THE  HISTORIC  MARCH  FIRST       27 

was  formed  and  went  to  the  foreign  consulates- 
general,  first  to  the  American  and  next  to  the 
French.  There  was  still  another  large  group 
that  headed  for  the  Japanese  government- 
general.  They  passed  the  Bank  of  Chosen  and 
entered  the  Japanese  section  of  the  city.  Here 
they  met  opposition  by  the  police,  gendarmes, 
and  Japanese  civilians,  who  took  part  in 
nearly  all  the  subsequent  measures  of  repres- 
sion. By  this  time  the  setting  sun  was  hover- 
ing on  the  crest  of  the  western  hills,  and  the 
streets  were  filled  with  soldiers,  gendarmes,  and 
police.  They  were  stopping  and  searching 
pedestrians  and  arresting  people  at  random, 
but  there  were  no  consequential  encounters,  as 
there  was  no  resistance  of  any  kind.  The 
experience  of  one  of  the  government  school 
students  is  here  given  in  his  own  words: 

"After  we  had  declared  independence  in 
Pagoda  Park  we  all  rushed  up  the  street 
toward  the  Palace  shouting  'Mansei!'  Some 
went  up  to  the  consulates  and  some  to  the 
government-general  offices.  I  went  with  the 
latter  crowd.  We  had  not  gone  far  down 
Chin-go-gai  before  two  policemen  arrested  me. 
They  immediately  struck  me  with  the  scab- 
bards of  their  swords  both  on  the  head  and 
body.  While  being  led  to  the  police  station  I 
was  constantly  kicked  and  struck  by  the  Jap- 


28  THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

anese  civilians.  One  man  even  removed  his 
wooden  shoes  and  struck  me.  I  was  taken  to 
the  Central  Police  Headquarters,  where  I  re- 
mained without  examination  until  the  4th. 
On  the  first  day  a  small  ball  of  rice  wrapped 
in  paper  was  thrown  in  to  us.  On  the  following 
day  and  most  of  the  succeeding  days  we  were 
given  a  dish  and  chopsticks.  They  were 
occasionally  withheld,  and  the  officer  remarked 
that  'such  dogs  are  not  worthy  of  chopsticks.' 
We  were  absolutely  forbidden  to  speak. 

"On  March  5th  I  was  brought  before  some 
official  who  questioned  me  as  to  (1)  'Who 
was  behind  proceedings?  (2)  Did  I  know  any 
of  the  instigators?'  I  replied  that  I  did  not 
know,  for  which  I  was  slapped  in  the  face. 
I  still  persisted  that  I  was  absolutely  ignorant 
of  these  matters,  which  was  quite  true.  He 
then  tied  my  hands  tightly  behind  me  and 
passed  the  loose  end  of  the  rope  over  the  right 
shoulder,  around  the  front  of  my  neck,  over 
the  left  shoulder  and  back  to  the  hands  where 
it  was  drawn  tight  and  fastened.  He  again 
asked  for  information  which  I  was  unable  to 
give.  The  officer  continued  to  slap  my  face 
and  poke  me  in  the  ribs  with  a  bar  of  iron. 
While  painful  at  the  time,  I  was  not  seriously 
injured.  I  was  also  frequently  struck  on  the 
head  with  a  knotted  rope.     The  punishment 


THE  HISTORIC  MARCH  FIRST       29 

was  now  changed.  I  was  told  to  hold  a  chair 
in  my  hands  over  my  head.  The  weight  of 
the  chair  soon  made  my  arms  ache  badly, 
and  I  had  to  drop  the  chair.  For  this  I  was 
beaten  and  again  made  to  hold  up  the  chair. 
I  was  again  questioned  but  refused  to  tell  the 
little  I  knew  and  would  give  no  information. 
On  the  sixth  day  I  was  brought  before  a  proc- 
urator, who  asked  me  about  age,  occupation, 
etc.,  and  also  if  I  was  satisfied  with  the  present 
government.  I  replied,  'Very  dissatisfied.'  He 
further  asked  why  I  wanted  independence. 

"In  the  evening  I  was  sent  to  the  jail.  .  .  ." 
Parenthetically,  the  one  who  took  down  the 
statement  said,  "The  boy  told  me  he  had 
called  'Mansei'  even  since  he  got  out  of  jail." 

Simultaneously  with  Seoul  there  were  sim- 
ilar demonstrations  in  all  the  important  centers 
throughout  the  country,  in  every  case  start- 
ing precisely  at  the  same  hour  of  the  day. 
The  one  that  took  place  in  Pyeng  Yang  is 
quite  typical,  and  it  is  briefly  related  here. 
In  this  city  the  Christians  took  the  leading 
part,  because  they  form  the  predominating 
element,  as  it  is  often  called  "the  spiritual 
capital"  of  Korea.  At  one  o'clock  there  were 
held  in  the  two  largest  churches  memorial 
services  for  the  former  Emperor.  What  is 
given  here  is  a  narrative  of  an  eyewitness  of 


80  THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

what  took  place  in  these  churches  and  what 
occurred  afterward.  There  were  in  the  church 
a  large  group  of  men,  women,  and  children. 
The  leading  pastors  and  lay  workers  of  the 
neighboring  churches  led  the  service,  and  it 
was  carried  out  in  the  spirit  of  solemnity  and 
reverence  that  befits  such  an  occasion.  Toward 
the  end  of  the  program  one  of  the  Japanese 
secret  service  men,  who  was  then  present, 
as  they  are  always  detailed  after  such  and  all 
other  meetings,  caught  a  glimpse  of  a  Korean 
flag  hidden  under  a  student's  clothes.  With 
a  remarkable  agility  he  rushed  away,  appar- 
ently to  report  in  all  haste.  A  few  moments 
later,  police  officers,  gendarmes,  and  police- 
men came  in  a  gallop  on  horseback.  When 
they  reached  the  church  the  service  was  al- 
ready over  and  the  people  were  filing  out. 
Outside  of  the  church  the  crowd  formed  a 
line,  each  with  a  Korean  flag,  and  all  joined 
in  cheering  "Mansei"  for  the  independence  of 
Korea.  Here,  as  elsewhere,  the  police  and 
gendarmes  were  taken  completely  unawares, 
and  they  simply  stood  round  and  looked  for 
the  moment. 

The  long  and  motley  line  of  men,  women,  and 
children  slowly  wended  its  way  down  the 
tortuous  roads  to  the  main  thoroughfare  in 
the  heart  of  the  city,  where  another  throng 


THE  HISTORIC  MARCH  FIRST       31 

marching  out  in  the  same  manner  from  the 
other  church  was  met.  The  multitude  now 
increased  to  an  immense  size,  densely  filling 
the  streets,  and  all  the  while  shouting  "Mansei" 
and  waving  the  Korean  flags.  They  paraded 
the  main  streets,  stopping  at  short  intervals 
before  the  government  offices  to  cheer  for  the 
independence.  Toward  dusk  they  stood  be- 
fore the  police  headquarters,  and  a  vociferous 
"Mansei"  went  up.  In  an  instant  the  fire 
brigade,  which  must  have  been  lying  in  readi- 
ness, rushed  out  and  turned  the  fire-hose  upon 
the  multitude.  Some  one  accepted  this  as  a 
mark  of  contempt  as  well  as  a  challenge,  and 
a  stone  was  thrown.  Before  anyone  could 
realize  what  was  happening,  sharp  reports 
rang  out,  and  men  and  boys  were  seen  falling. 
Volley  after  volley  followed,  and  the  day 
closed  with  numerous  casualties. 

In  the  other  centers  where  the  demonstra- 
tions took  place  on  the  same  day  they  had 
varying  results.  In  some  cities  the  death 
lists  were  greater  than  in  Pyeng  Yang;  and 
in  others,  as  in  the  capital,  nothing  worse  than 
beating  and  arresting  occurred.  The  practice 
of  atrocious  methods  was  in  the  main  reserved 
for  later  days,  after  the  people  were  made  to 
understand  that  the  "Formosan  methods" 
would   be   resorted   to.      The   closing   of   this 


£2  THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

never-to-be-forgotten  day  found  Korea  in  her 
throes  with  much  loss  of  blood  and  with  a 
promise  of  more,  but  it  was  her  birth-pain; 
and  she  was  reborn — never  again  to  die.  What 
form  her  career  would  take  in  the  days  to 
come  time  alone  can  unfold,  but  already  the 
contagion  of  her  new  life  is  influencing  the 
spirit  and  changing  the  policies  of  the  whole 
Orient. 


CHAPTER  II 

AGITATION  AND  REPRESSION 

The  next  day,  March  2d,  was  Sunday  and 
the  young  people  planned  to  have  a  big  demon- 
stration, but  some  of  the  Christian  leaders, 
true  to  their  apostolic  scruples  about  Sabbath 
observance,  prevailed  upon  them  to  postpone 
it  to  a  later  date.  The  following  day  was 
Monday,  but  the  state  funeral  of  the  former 
Emperor  took  place,  and  it  extended  to  the 
4th,  and  anything  that  would  disturb  the 
solemnity  of  the  occasion  was  out  of  question. 
Consequently,  the  two  days  passed  very  quietly. 

A  word  might  be  said  about  the  funeral 
ceremony.  Not  a  little  friction  was  caused 
by  the  insistence  on  the  part  of  the  Japanese 
authorities  upon  having  everything  done  in 
Japanese  form,  whereas  the  Koreans  naturally 
wanted  to  have  it  done  according  to  the  Korean 
customs  that  have  been  handed  down  from 
times  of  old.  Finally  the  officials  representing 
the  Japanese  imperial  household,  the  Tokyo 
government  and  the  government-general  de- 
cided to  have  the  Japanese  ceremony  observed 
from  the  palace  to  the  city  gate,  and  the 
Korean  custom  from  the  gate  to  the  tomb. 

33 


34  THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

Of  course  the  Koreans  were  not  in  a  position 
to  make  an  effective  protest,  but  ill  feelings 
could  not  very  well  be  repressed.  All  the 
hundreds  of  thousands  who  came  purposely  to 
the  funeral  went  outside  of  the  city,  and  all 
the  students  who  were  ordered  to  be  present 
at  the  Japanese  ceremonies  absented  themselves. 

Another  question  that  gave  much  trouble 
was  the  wording  of  the  inscription  on  the 
banner  that  accompanied  the  bier.  It  was  a 
choice  between,  "the  Grand  Emperor  of  Korea," 
because  that  was  the  title  given  him  when  he 
abdicated,  and  "the  Grand  Prince."  Officially 
the  latter  was  appointed  to  be  used,  and  that 
caused  a  good  deal  of  bitterness.  The  great 
crowd  that  went  out  to  see  the  funeral  never- 
theless had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  a  large 
silken  banner  of  imperial  color  bearing  an 
inscription  which  said  "The  Grand  Emperor 
of  Korea."  It  was  carried  by  some  loyal 
soul,  who  eluded  all  the  vigilance  of  the  police 
and  managed  to  get  into  the  line  and  marched 
along.  It  goes  without  saying  that  he  was 
arrested  when  discovered. 

On  the  5th  of  March,  the  day  after  the 
funeral,  another  demonstration  took  place,  and 
this  time  the  teeth  of  militarism  were  plainly 
shown.  A  pamphlet  called,  The  Korean  Situa- 
tion: Authentic  Accounts  of  Recent  Events  by 


AGITATION  AND  REPRESSION       35 

Eyewitnesses ,  was  recently  issued  by  the  Com- 
mission on  Relations  with  the  Orient  of  the 
Federal  Council  of  the  Churches  of  Christ  in 
America,  and  the  following  paragraph  is  quoted 
from  it  to  show  what  an  American  saw  that 
day: 

"On  Wednesday,  March  5th,  at  the  stroke 
of  nine  in  the  morning,  commotion  was  heard 
on  the  main  street  in  front  of  the  railway 
station.  Young  men  were  swarming  out  of 
the  stores  and  alleys  and  making  toward  the 
railway  station,  calling  out  their  national  cry. 
In  a  remarkably  brief  time  a  man  in  a  rickisha 
started  up  the  street  toward  the  South  Gate, 
surrounded  by  the  throng,  who  with  uplifted 
arms,  carrying  red  bands,  ran  through  the 
gate  and  into  the  old  city  toward  the  palace. 
This  demonstration  was  composed  almost  en- 
tirely of  students,  and  as  it  proceeded  was 
joined  by  high-school  girls.  The  police  appar- 
ently had  been  taken  by  surprise,  for  the 
demonstrators  had  run  about  half  a  mile 
before  they  were  opposed.  In  the  large  open 
space  in  front  of  the  palace  the  police  were 
drawn  up  and  charged  the  crowd  with  sabers. 
Many  wounds  were  inflicted.  No  respect  was 
shown  to  sex,  girls  being  handled  roughly  and 
beaten.  Hundreds  of  arrests  were  made,  in- 
cluding a  number  of  school  girls.    No  violence 


36  THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

was  attempted  by  the  students.  Their  object 
apparently  was  merely  to  demonstrate,  and 
they  considered  it  an  honor  to  be  arrested 
for  their  country.  Nearly  all  of  the  student 
nurses  at  Severance  Hospital  rushed  out  when 
the  crowd  passed  by  the  street.  They  were 
carrying  bandages  and  were  prepared  to  do 
Red  Cross  work  if  required.  Fifteen  were 
arrested  and  were  held  in  the  police  station 
until  afternoon.  They  were  questioned  closely 
as  to  whether  the  heads  of  their  institution 
(the  missionaries)  had  ordered  them  out.  The 
younger  high-school  girls  who  were  taken  did 
not  fare  so  well.  Most  were  kept  in  custody, 
and  more  will  be  told  of  their  sufferings  in 
the  jail  later." 

In  roughly  handling  the  crowd  the  Japanese 
civilians  and  coolies  were  conspicuous.  They 
pulled  young  girls  by  the  hair,  rolled  them  into 
the  gutter,  kicked  them  and  beat  them  until 
the  police  would  come  round  and  take  charge 
of  them.  In  some  cases,  even  while  the  police 
were  holding  the  persons,  the  Japanese  coolie 
continued  the  beating;  and  one  policeman  was 
heard  to  say,  "Don't  you  overbeat  him,  be- 
cause I  must  walk  him  to  the  headquarters." 
When  they  were  taking  the  girls  to  the  sta- 
tion they  held  two  or  three  in  each  hand  by 
the  hair,  and  never  ceased  kicking  and  cuffing 


AGITATION  AND  REPRESSION       37 

on  the  way.  What  happened  after  reaching 
the  police  station  is  found  in  numerous  testi- 
monies given  by  the  girls  after  they  were 
released,  and  portions  of  a  few  are  here  quoted: 

".  .  .  At  the  entrance  of  the  police  office 
twenty  or  more  Japanese  policemen  who  stood 
in  line  sneered  and  kicked  me  and  struck  me 
with  their  swords  and  struck  me  in  the  face 
so  many  times  that  I  did  not  realize  whether 
they  were  beating  me  or  some  one  else. 

"I  was  led  into  a  room.  They  dragged  me 
on  the  floor,  they  struck  me  in  the  face,  they 
struck  me  with  their  swords,  they  flung  me  to 
the  corner  of  the  room.  At  this  point  I  must 
have  been  completely  unconscious,  as  I  do  not 
remember  what  happened  after  that. 

"On  recovering  my  senses  I  found  myself 
in  a  room  packed  with  young  men  and  women. 
After  some  time  we  were  cross-examined  by 
a  police  officer  one  by  one.  I  was  made  to 
kneel  down  with  my  legs  bound  together,  and 
each  question  and  answer  was  accompanied 
alternately  by  blows  in  the  face.  They  spit 
in  my  face.  This  with  curses  and  invectives  of 
the  worst  kind.  I  was  ordered  to  expose  my 
breasts,  but,  refusing,  they  tore  my  upper 
garment  from  me,  and  I  was  told  all  sorts  of 
inhuman  things.  They  tied  my  fingers  together 
and  jerked  them  violently.    This  made  me  feel 


38  THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

as  if  my  fingers  were  being  torn  from  my 
hands.  I  shut  my  eyes  and  dropped  down  on 
the  floor.  Thereupon  the  examining  officers 
uttered  a  loud  angry  roar  and  ordered  me 
to  kneel  down  as  before,  then  rushed  at  me, 
seizing  me  by  the  breast  and  struck  me  vio- 
lently. He  then  shook  me  fiercely  by  the  hair. 
He  pulled  me  by  the  ear.  He  was  not  satis- 
fied with  this,  so  he  beat  me  on  the  head  with 
a  stick.  They  made  me  extend  my  hands  and 
hold  up  a  heavy  chair,  which,  if  I  let  drop 
he  would  strike  my  elbow  with  a  stick.  He 
made  me  kneel  down  near  a  window  with  the 
chair  held  up  as  before.  If  the  chair  was 
lowered  or  it  touched  the  windowpane,  he 
would  come  and  strike  me.  An  hour  or  so  was 
passed  in  this  manner,  when  I  was  told  to  go 
down  the  stairs.  I  could  not  walk.  I  crawled 
on  the  floor  with  much  difficulty,  even  with 
the  help  of  one  of  their  professional  spies,  who 
followed  me.  I  arose  and  attempted  to  go  down- 
stairs. As  I  made  the  first  step  down  my 
strength  gave  out,  and  so  I  rolled  down  the  whole 
length  of  the  stairs.     I  was  again  unconscious. 

"On  recovering  my  senses  I  was  obliged  to 
crawl  into  a  room.  The  policeman  in  charge 
of  the  room  laughed  loudly  at  my  misery. 
Then  I  prayed  and  seemed  to  see  Jesus  and 
was  much  comforted  from  on  high. 


AGITATION  AND  REPRESSION       39 

"I  spent  five  days  in  all  at  the  police  station. 
Then  I  was  sent  to  the  West  Gate  penitentiary. 
There  I  was  stripped  naked  and  was  looked 
at  by  the  men.  Then  I  was  allowed  to  put 
on  my  dress  and  was  led  into  a  room.  I  was 
sneered  at  and  cursed  beyond  my  power  to 
realize.  In  this  room  there  were  sixteen  per- 
sons who  were  like  myself.  The  room  was 
not  very  large,  and  so  we  were  densely  packed 
together.  The  toilet  arrangements  are  placed 
in  the  room  just  like  the  pig's  shelter.  The 
room  was  so  filthy  that  it  was  not  fit  even 
for  pigs.  We  were  given  beans  and  salt  to 
eat.  While  we  were  eating  now  and  then  some 
one  would  look  in  and  call  us  all  sorts  of  names 
— 'You  dogs!'    'You  pigs!'  etc. 

"On  the  second  day  a  person  called  the 
police  doctor  and  several  others  came  in  and 
weighed  me  stripped  naked.  They  too  sneered 
and  spat  upon  me.  Now  and  then  I  was  told 
by  the  keeper  there  that  I  would  be  tried 
publicly.  I  looked  forward  to  that  with  a 
great  deal  of  consolation,  as  I  thought  I  would 
have  some  chance  to  state  my  case  without 
reserve,  but  alas!  I  was  led  out  one  day  with- 
out trial  and  without  being  told  the  nature 
of  my  offense,  or,  indeed,  that  there  had  been 
legal  offense." 

From    other    testimonies    one    can   learn   a 


40  THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

good  deal  about  the  rank  and  character  of  the 
Japanese  officials  and  about  the  attitude  of 
the  Korean  employees.  One  eighteen-year-old 
girl  has  the  following  in  her  testimony: 

"...  At  this  place  [Chongto  Police  Station] 
for  four  days  successively  I  was  examined 
each  day  by  a  different  officer.  I  told  the 
same  story  each  day.  On  the  second  day  I 
was  not  beaten  as  much  as  the  first  day.  The 
officer  was  of  higher  rank  than  the  one  who 
examined  me  on  the  first  day.  The  first  day's 
record  was  before  the  officer  at  which  he 
looked.  On  the  first  day  and  on  each  suc- 
ceeding day  there  were  present  a  secretary 
and  a  Korean  interpreter. 

"After  the  preliminary  examination  had  been 
through,  the  officer  said,  Then  have  you  led 
an  evil  life?'  etc. 

"The  officer  then  came  up  to  where  I  was 
standing  and  tried  to  take  off  my  clothes.  I 
cried  and  protested  and  struggled,  and  said, 
'This  is  not  the  way  to  treat  a  woman/  He 
desisted.  When  he  was  making  these  vile 
statements  about  us  he  did  not  use  the  Korean 
interpreter,  but  spoke  in  broken,  faltering 
Korean.  The  Korean  interpreter  was  ordered  tc 
beat  me.  He  said  he  would  not  beat  a  woman; 
he  would  bite  his  fingers  first.  So  the  officer  beat 
me  with  his  fist  on  my  shoulders,  face,  and  legs. 


AGITATION  AND  REPRESSION       41 

"The  third  day  I  was  again  examined  but 
not  beaten.  Only  the  regulation  questions 
were  asked.  On  Saturday  (fourth  day)  the 
officer  examining  me  had  three  gold  stripes. 
I  was  asked  the  regulation  questions  again, 
and  was  beaten  by  this  officer,  but  not  as 
hard  as  on  the  first  day.  On  Sunday,  March  9 
at  —  p.m.,  I  was  taken  bound  with  other 
girls  to  the  West  Gate  prison,  three  police 
guarding  us.  We  were  not  allowed  to  look 
up  or  to  speak.  The  driver,  a  Korean,  spoke 
aloud  once,  loud  enough  for  us  to  hear.  'Don't 
be  discouraged  and  allow  your  health  to  be 
weakened;  not  yet  condemned;  this  is  only 
to  break  the  spirit  (murder  the  mind).'  We 
reached  the  prison.  While  the  Japanese  police- 
man went  to  the  prison  office  we  were  still 
sitting  in  the  auto.  A  Korean  who  appeared 
to  be  a  student  came  to  the  auto,  put  his 
hand  on  the  side,  and  said,  'Be  of  good  cheer; 
we  cannot  be  dying  all  the  time.  The  time  to 
live  is  coming,  since  God  is  just  and  he  will 
give  us  what  we  ask.'  He  then  disappeared." 
What  took  place  in  the  prison  to  this  girl 
was  precisely  the  same  as  that  described  in 
the  first  testimony.  One  girl,  however, 
added :  "These  men  examined  our  naked  bodies, 
and  what  we  went  through  at  their  hand 
I   would    be    ashamed    to    write    on    paper. 


42  THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

Though  I  say  only  this,  you  may  guess  the 
rest." 

The  above  quotations  reveal  several  very 
significant  facts.  First,  of  the  four  examina- 
tions that  at  least  two  were  carried  out  by 
the  officials  of  the  law  court  is  certain  from 
the  descriptions  given;  the  man  with  three 
gold  stripes  can  be  no  other  than  the  chief 
procurator  of  the  Seoul  District  Court.  He 
is  a  civil  official  of  a  very  high  rank,  and  accord- 
ing to  the  statement,  he  beat  the  girl  prisoner. 
Second,  that  stripping  the  women  and  girls 
naked  and  subjecting  them  to  all  sorts  of 
unspeakable  indignities  cannot  be  said  to  have 
been  isolated  cases  perpetrated  by  individual 
police  officers,  because  the  reports  from  all 
the  girls,  in  so  far  as  they  could  be  obtained, 
not  only  in  Seoul,  but  in  Pyeng  Yang  and 
elsewhere,  relate  the  same  thing.  Third,  in 
a  highly  centralized  government  where  every 
action  is  regulated  to  the  minutest  detail, 
it  is  unthinkable  that  any  lower  official  can 
indulge  in  such  gross  irregularities  entirely  on 
his  own  responsibility. 

After  the  experience  of  the  1st  and  5  th  of 
March  the  military  authorities  posted  at  every 
corner  a  batch  of  soldiers  and  had  all  the 
streets  patroled  constantly,  and  sometimes  in 
order  to  overawe  the  populace  machine-guns 


AGITATION  AND  REPRESSION       43 

and  field  pieces  were  displayed.  They  tried 
to  make  the  demonstrations  physically  im- 
possible. If  four  or  five  were  gathered,  the 
soldiers  would  go  and  disperse  them.  If  any 
attempt  were  made  to  either  read  or  speak 
in  public,  the  soldiers  and  gendarmes  rushed 
at  the  person  or  persons  and  dealt  mercilessly 
with  swords  and  bayonets.  Constant  arrests 
were  made,  so  that  in  a  short  while  the  news- 
papers reported  that  there  were  over  six 
thousand  agitators  in  jail  in  different  parts 
of  the  country.  In  Pyeng  Yang  and  other 
country  places  the  firemen  assisted  the  police 
by  using  long-handled  iron  hooks  on  passers-by 
so  that  innumerable  people  received  ugly 
wounds. 

From  this  time  on  the  demonstrations  and 
suppression  took  the  character  of  hide-and- 
seek  in  Seoul,  and  sometimes  the  people  thor- 
oughly amused  themselves.  For  instance,  word 
would  be  sent  round  so  that  the  Japanese 
police  would  get  it  that  on  a  certain  day  a 
great  demonstration  would  be  held  in  the 
east  ward  of  the  city.  Of  course  at  the  pre- 
cise hour  the  place  would  be  fairly  swarmed 
by  soldiers  and  police,  but  they  would  be 
doomed  to  disappointment,  because  imme- 
diately after  the  first  word  another  had  been 
sent  round,  this  time  so  that  the  Japanese 


44  THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

could  not  get  it,  that  the  demonstration  was 
either  called  off  or  was  to  be  held  in  the  west 
ward.  Then  again  the  youngsters  got  not  a 
little  fun  at  the  expense  of  the  police.  They 
would  make  Korean  flags  secretly,  tie  a  stone 
at  each  corner,  and  throw  them  up  on  the 
telephone  lines.  Some  of  them  climbed  up  tall 
and  difficult  trees  and  hoisted  up  large  Korean 
flags.  Nearly  every  night  somebody  would  go 
up  either  the  South  Mountain  or  the  North 
Peak  and  plant  a  Korean  flag.  One  morning, 
it  is  said,  the  police  went  up  the  South  Moun- 
tain and  found  a  Korean  flag  floating  from 
the  top  of  a  tree,  the  trunk  of  which  was  in 
such  an  uninviting  state  that  they  cut  the 
tree  down  rather  than  attempt  to  climb  it. 

When  the  watch  became  so  strict  that  it 
was  impossible  to  have  any  demonstrations  in 
the  daytime,  they  took  advantage  of  the  cover 
of  night.  Here  is  what  happened  in  one  of 
these  night  demonstrations.  "On  March  27th, 
at  about  9  p.  m.,  a  large  body  of  young  men 
gathered  at  Andong,  Seoul,  and  shouted 
'Mansei.'  The  shouting  had  continued  for  a 
few  minutes  when  a  strong  force  of  police, 
gendarmes,  and  soldiers  arrived  and  dispersed 
the  gathering.  A  young  man  named  Koo 
Naksoh,  like  the  others,  was  going  peaceably 
home  and  was  alone,  walking  along  a  small 


AGITATION  AND  REPRESSION       45 

street,  when  suddenly  some  one  pushed  him 
violently  in  the  back,  causing  him  to  stumble 
and  fall.  His  assailant  was  a  policeman,  who 
had  seen  him  in  the  crowd  and  followed  him 
to  the  place  where  he  thought  fit  to  make  the 
attack.  After  throwing  him  to  the  ground, 
the  policeman  drew  his  sword  and  literally 
hacked  at  him  'like  a  woodsman  would  attack 
a  rough  old  oak.'  His  skull  was  cut  right 
through  so  that  the  brain  was  visible.  This 
had  been  accomplished  by  at  least  three  sword 
cuts  falling  in  and  near  the  same  place.  His 
hands  were  terribly  cut;  his  left  wrist  was 
also  cut  through  to  the  bone.  Those  who 
saw  the  corpse  stated  that  there  were  twenty 
sword  cuts,  but  the  photograph  only  revealed 
ten. 

"After  this  brutal  attack  on  this  unarmed 
and  defenseless  young  man  the  officer  ran 
away,  leaving  him  to  expire  in  terrible  agony 
in  a  few  minutes.  Some  Koreans  happening 
to  pass  by  carried  him  to  the  nearest  native 
hospital  (Tuk  Chei  Hospital),  but  little  could 
be  done,  so  they  placed  him  on  a  stretcher 
and  started  out  for  the  Severance  Union  Med- 
ical College,  still  thinking  that  his  life  might 
be  saved.  While  hurrying  to  the  Severance 
Hospital  they  were  stopped  by  a  policeman 
from  the  Honmachi  police  station,  who  spoke 


46  THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

to  them  in  a  threatening  way  and  did  all  he 
could  to  prevent  the  case  being  taken  to  a 
foreign  hospital.  They  remonstrated,  declaring 
that  the  case  was  so  serious  that  a  delay  in 
taking  the  man  to  the  Japanese  hospital, 
which  was  some  distance  away,  would  surely 
result  fatally.  The  Japanese  are  naturally 
anxious  that  such  cases  should  not  be  seen  by 
foreigners.  On  arriving  at  the  Severance  Hos- 
pital medical  examination  revealed  the  fact 
that  the  man  was  already  dead.  It  is  impos- 
sible to  say  when  he  died.  His  dead  body 
presented  the  most  pitiable  appearance.  Num- 
bers of  sword  cuts  had  mutilated  his  head 
and  hands.  His  clothing  was  saturated  with 
blood;  it  was,  indeed,  a  sight  never  to  be  for- 
gotten." 

When  the  soldiers  were  reenforced  from 
Japan,  and  the  vigilance  of  the  police  and 
gendarmes  became  such  that  no  demonstration 
on  a  large  scale  could  be  held  in  the  thickly 
populated  sections  of  the  city,  the  people  went 
up  the  hills  in  the  nights  and  built  bonfires 
like  the  beacon  fires  of  the  days  of  yore,  and 
shouted  for  the  independence  of  the  country. 
In  the  country  districts  they  often  utilized  the 
market  days.  In  the  outlying  districts  the 
people  fared  even  far  worse  than  in  Seoul. 
Oftentimes  the  first  thing  that  greeted  their 


AGITATION  AND  REPRESSION       4*7 

shouts  was  rifle  shots,  but  they  will  be  described 
in  the  next  chapter. 

On  the  same  day  when  the  Declaration  of 
Independence  was  read  there  appeared  a  news- 
paper called  The  Independence  News.  The 
first  editor  was  Mr.  Yun  Ikaun,  president  of 
a  private  law  school  called  the  Posung  College 
of  Law  and  Commerce.  He  was  promptly 
arrested  of  course,  but  that  paper  never  has 
missed  a  day  up  to  this  time.  The  police 
searched  everywhere  and  confiscated  every 
printing  implement  and  material,  but  it  comes 
out  faithfully  every  day.  Nobody  knows  who 
the  editors  are,  nor  how  it  is  distributed,  but 
every  morning  it  makes  its  appearance.  The 
following  is  a  translation  of  one  of  the  issues: 

THE  INDEPENDENCE  NEWS,   March  10,  1919 

The  Independence  Arch  under  Mount  Inwang  with 
the  Korean  flags  engraved  upon  its  keystones  has  re- 
mained an  empty  name  for  ten  long  years.  The  arch 
as  those  who  know  it  is  a  massive  structure  more  than 
30  feet  high  and  20  feet  wide  with  an  inner  stairway 
leading  out  on  top  of  the  masonry.  The  Japanese  per- 
haps because  they  loved  the  arch  so  much,  locked  the 
inner  door  and  placed  a  fence  around  it,  thereby  pre- 
venting anybody  from  passing  through  the  gates.  On 
the  morning  of  March  5th  the  lines  on  the  engraved 
flags  were  noticed  to  be  deep  red.  We  do  not  know 
who  accomplished  this  brave  deed.  During  the  day 
multitudes  of  Koreans  desiring  to  see  the  flags  crowded 


48  THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

in  from  all  directions.  They  conversed  with  each  other 
about  the  wonderful  occurrence,  questioning  as  to  how 
it  had  been  done  without  scaffold  or  ladder.  To  many 
it  seemed  to  be  nothing  short  of  a  miracle  performed 
by  the  hands  of  angels. 

The  Japanese  authorities  were  greatly  annoyed  to 
see  so  many  people  coming  to  this,  and  so  they  did  all 
they  could  to  prevent  them.  Being  so  annoyed  by  the 
way  these  newly  painted  flags  attracted  the  people, 
the  authorities  determined  to  remove  the  paint  by  means 
of  water  and  so  brought  out  the  city  fire  brigade.  But 
alas!  To  the  gratification  of  the  people,  the  dark  red 
merely  turned  a  lighter  hue.  Spellbound,  they  stood 
and  gazed  at  these  strange  flags,  and  being  unable  to 
close  the  eyes  of  the  people  the  government-general 
became  most  uneasy. 

This  incident  has  more  than  ever  made  the  Koreans 
feel  the  impossibility  of  living  together  with  the  Jap- 
anese. Following  this  and  stimulated  by  it,  the  con- 
ductors of  the  street  cars,  the  employees  of  the  tobacco 
company,  and  many  other  workers  have  gone  on  strikes. 

Large  Student  Parade.  Many  thousand  students,  all 
shouting  "Mansei"  at  the  top  of  their  voices,  formed  a 
procession  and  went  from  the  South  Gate  Station  to 
the  West  Palace.  They  were  most  fearless;  and  march- 
ing with  empty  hands  showed  the  utmost  contempt  for 
the  swords  and  bayonets  that  surrounded  them.  Many 
were  cut  on  the  hands  and  head  by  the  swords  and  bay- 
onets of  the  Japanese. 

The  business  men  could  not  endure  to  sit  still  at  their 
trade  while  the  young  men  and  women  of  Korea  were 
thus  giving  their  lives  for  the  nation,  so  from  the  day 
of  the  parade  most  shops  were  closed. 

The  Japanese  are  very  much  annoyed  at  this  action 


w 


AGITATION  AND  REPRESSION       49 

of  the  shop-keepers  and  are  trying  to  make  a  counter 
move  against  them. 

Some  wicked  Japanese  wearing  Korean  clothes  and 
mixing  with  Koreans  are  trying  to  incite  riots.  O  brothers, 
be  very  careful  of  them! 

{Translator's  Note:  "I  saw  the  painted 
flags,  and  the  statement  in  the  above  news- 
paper is  substantially  correct.  After  this  event 
one  of  Korea's  greatest  philosophers  said  to  a 
government  official,  'You  Japanese  have  made 
one  error  which  is  typical  of  all  the  errors 
you  have  made  during  your  administration.' 
Being  asked  what  the  error  was,  he  replied, 
'Taking  the  city  fire  brigade  out  to  wash  the 
paint  off  Independence  Arch.'  ") 

It  was  true  that  the  government  had  irri- 
tated the  people  unnecessarily  at  this,  and  in 
this  way  revealed  its  narrowness  and  lack  of 
wisdom. 

"One  Japanese  who  was  dressed  as  a  Korean 
was  brutally  attacked  by  other  Japanese 
gendarmes.  As  far  as  it  is  known  the  poor 
Japanese  dressed  as  a  Korean  was  doing 
nothing  worthy  of  such  treatment,  but  such 
things  are  of  daily  occurrence." 

As  the  Independence  News  has  said,  the 
stores  in  Seoul  closed  on  the  5th  of  March 
and  continued  until  the  1st  of  April,  when 
they  were  forced  to  reopen.     The  closing  of 


50  THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

the  stores  in  Seoul  has  historically  a  special 
significance.  Even  though  Korea  always  main- 
tained a  monarchical  form  of  government,  there 
were  many  checks  upon  the  extravagant  use 
of  the  king's  prerogatives.  There  were  the 
grand  censors,  the  referendum  of  the  literati, 
and  various  other  institutions.  As  one  of  the 
last  resorts,  in  case  the  king  is  obdurate, 
comes  the  merchant  guild's  strike,  which  means 
the  closing  of  all  the  business  concerns  on  Bell 
Street,  the  nerve  center  of  Korea's  commercial 
life.  According  to  the  traditions,  when  the 
stores  are  closed  for  three  days  consecutively, 
the  king  must  descend  from  the  throne.  So 
it  shows  what  a  powerful  weapon  it  meant 
to  be  upon  despotism  and  oppression. 

On  April  2d,  the  Seoul  Press,  the  official 
organ  of  the  government,  printed  the  following: 

Story  No.  1 

"Yesterday  at  10  a.  m.  Governor  Matsunaga 
summoned  over  40  representative  Korean  mer- 
chants in  Seoul  and  advised  them  to  reopen 
their  shops  immediately,  promising  them  due 
protection  from  intimidation  by  agitators.  At 
the  same  time  the  Governor  issued  a  warning 
to  Korean  shopkeepers  urging  them  to  resume 
business.  In  consequence  Korean  shops  in 
Chongno    (Bell    Street)    and    other    principal 


AGITATION  AND  REPRESSION       51 

streets  were  seen  to  reopen  at  noon."  Upon 
this  a  Britisher  (?)  has  the  following  comment 
(abridged)  to  make: 

"So  simply  done  apparently,  but  this  is 
only  half  of  the  story.  Everyone  who  has 
followed  the  movement  in  Korea  has  been 
struck  by  the  action  of  the  merchants,  both 
large  and  small,  in  closing  their  stores  and 
refusing  to  do  business  since  the  beginning  of 
the  Independence  Movement.  Early  last  month 
when  the  stores  first  closed,  the  Prefect  called 
a  meeting  of  merchants  and  remonstrated  with 
them  for  their  foolish  action.  But  this  had 
no  effect.  They  decided  almost  unanimously 
to  remain  closed.  They  would  reopen  on  only 
one  condition,  they  said:  'When  you  let  all 
our  brothers,  sisters,  and  friends  out  of  jail, 
we  will  open  shop.' 

"I  might  say  that  the  foolish  statement  that 
the  shops  were  kept  closed  because  the  owners 
were  afraid  of  assault  from  agitators  can  be 
disproved  in  at  least  six  ways:  (1)  That  it 
was  the  decision  of  the  shopkeepers  whereby 
they  hoped  to  obtain  the  release  of  their  im- 
prisoned brethren.  (2)  That  those  stores  that 
remained  open  were  not  molested  except  in  a 
few  instances.  (3)  That  after  the  majority  of 
the  larger  shops  were  opened  by  the  police 
and  no  assault  by  the  agitators  followed,  hun- 


52  THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

dreds  of  large  and  small  stores  on  the  smaller 
streets  still  remained  closed,  indicating  that  it 
was  something  more  than  police  protection 
that  they  required  to  reopen.  (4)  The  Koreans 
knowing  the  absolute  protection  they  could 
obtain  if  they  desired  to  open,  did  not  so 
desire;  on  the  contrary,  they  had  to  be  threat- 
ened, struck,  and  imprisoned  before  they  would 
'open  up.'  (5)  When  bankruptcy  was  facing 
them  the  business  men  would  not  keep  from 
opening  shops  for  fear  of  an  impossible  attack 
by  agitators.  (6)  Police  officers  when  asked 
whether  the  Koreans  were  desirous  of  opening 
their  shops,  replied  'No.'  The  following  stories 
need  no  explanation  and  could  be  duplicated 
by  a  hundred  [only  one  given  here]: 

Story  No.  2 

"On  April  1st  a  Japanese  policeman  and  a 
detective  came  to  my  home  and  asked  to  see 
the  owner.  I  replied  that  the  master  of  the 
house  had  gone  to  the  country.  I  was  then 
told  to  telegraph  immediately  for  him,  saying 
that  the  police  required  to  see  him  at  once. 
The  officers  then  told  me  that  I  must  go  with 
them  to  the  Provincial  Police  Bureau.  I  asked 
that  they  go  first  and  I  would  follow  right 
away.  To  this  they  replied,  'We  must  go 
together.' 


AGITATION  AND  REPRESSION       53 

"On  arriving  at  the  police  box  the  policeman 
telephoned  somewhere,  stating  that  the  master 
was  away  and  that  [he  was  bringing  one  of  the 
employees,  and  asked  whether  that  was  satis- 
factory. The  reply  was,  'Yes.'  I  was  then 
escorted  by  these  officers  to  the  Police  Bureau 
of  the  Kyeng-Keui  Province,  where  on  enter- 
ing I  found  a  large  number  of  business  men. 
We  were  then  spoken  to  and  given  a  notice 
which  we  were  told  to  read  carefully.  We 
were  further  told  that  we  had  broken  the  law 
and  had  done  very  badly  for  a  whole  month 
by  keeping  our  stores  closed,  but  for  that 
offense  we  would  be  forgiven.  If,  however, 
after  this  special  forgiveness  we  again  offended 
by  not  opening,  we  would  be  punished  severely 
by  the  law.  We  were  then  told  to  sign  the 
following  guarantee:  'If  you  will  please  help 
and  protect  us,  we  will  open  our  shops  imme- 
diately.* We  were  told  that  if  we  refused  to 
sign  this  document,  we  would  not  be  released. 
As  far  as  I  know  all  signed.  A  spy  then  accom- 
panied me  to  the  store  and  threatened  that 
if  I  did  not  open,  he  would  take  me  back  to 
the  Police  Bureau.  I  opened  reluctantly,  and 
in  a  short  time  one  Japanese  and  one  Korean 
spy  came  and  stayed  around  the  store  until 
closing  time. 

"On  April  2d  I  did  not  come  to  the  store 


54  THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

until  late  in  the  morning.  When  I  arrived 
I  found  that  the  lock  had  been  wrenched  and 
the  staple  broken  so  that  the  door  could  be 
opened.  I  had  not  been  in  the  store  long  when 
a  policeman  came  and  stated  that  I  must  re- 
port to  the  police  box  at  Kurigai.  I  went 
along  with  the  policeman,  and  the  son  of  the 
proprietor  accompanied  us.  We  were  asked 
why  we  had  not  opened  early.  A  Japanese 
policeman  slapped  me  on  the  face.  The  son 
of  the  proprietor  was  also  slapped  quite  fre- 
quently. I  was  slapped  only  a  few  times. 
One  of  the  officers  in  the  police  box  wrote  on 
a  piece  of  paper,  'I  promise  to  open  the  store 
at  about  8  o'clock  in  the  morning.'  To  this 
I  had  to  put  my  seal. 

"On  April  3rd  I  came  down  to  the  store  at 
9:  00.  Pretty  soon  a  policeman  came  and  said, 
'Why  did  you  not  open  at  8: 00  o'clock?' 
I  made  some  excuse,  so  again  I  was  told  to  go 
to  the  police  box.  Once  more  I  was  scolded 
but  not  struck.  The  officer  said  that  I  must 
write  another  statement  in  which  I  was  allowed 
to  open  between  8  and  9  a.m.,  but  not  later.  " 

As  there  is  a  persistent  attempt  to  create 
an  impression  that  the  movement  was  en- 
gendered and  carried  on  only  by  certain  self- 
interested  parties,  and  that  the  Korean  people 
are  too  well  contented  to  be  drawn  into  it, 


AGITATION  AND  REPRESSION       55 

two  of  the  many  illustrations  that  prove  the 
contrary  are  related  here. 

Toward  the  end  of  March  in  one  of  the 
public  common  schools  (government  primary 
school)  in  Seoul,  there  was  held  a  graduation 
ceremony.  The  age  of  the  youngsters  ranged 
between  eight  and  twelve  years,  and  the 
principal  and  almost  all  of  the  teachers  were 
Japanese.  The  ceremony  began  as  usual,  with 
the  singing  of  the  Japanese  national  anthem, 
followed  by  the  reading  of  the  Japanese  Im- 
perial Rescript  on  Education,  during  which 
everyone  present  was  made  to  maintain  the 
posture  of  the  most  profound  bow.  In  due 
time  the  diplomas  were  given  out  to  the  grad- 
uates. It  is  customary  for  the  principal  to 
give  an  "introduction"  to  the  graduates  at 
this  point  on  loyalty  to  the  Emperor,  self- 
sacrifice  for  the  nation,  etc.  Just  as  the  prin- 
cipal mounted  the  platform  and  was  about  to 
open  his  mouth,  out  came  from  the  inside  of 
the  coat  of  each  of  the  youngsters,  a  Korean 
flag,  and  a  burst  of  "Mansei"  greeted  him! 
The  poor  pedagogue  was  thunderstruck.  The 
children  filed  out  into  the  yard,  formed  a  line, 
and  marched  away  to  the  Palace  to  shout, 
"Ten  thousand  years  for  Korea!" 

The  second  fact  that  illustrates  the  una- 
nimity of  the  people  is  shown  by  the,  number 


56  THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

of  petitions  sent  to  the  Governor-General  and 
to  the  Premier  by  the  various  groups,  most 
notably  the  one  presented  by  the  two  leading 
literati,  both  made  viscounts  under  the  Jap- 
anese regime,  President  and  Vice-President  re- 
spectively of  the  government  Confucian  Col- 
lege, and  held  Cabinet  posts  under  the  old 
Korean  Government.  The  petition  is  here 
given. 

"Petition  by  Viscounts  Kim  Yun-sik 
and  Yi  Yong-Chik 

"A  way  of  doing  things  is  good  only  as  it 
accords  with  the  time;  and  a  government 
succeeds  only  when  it  makes  its  people  happy. 
If  the  Way  is  not  in  keeping  with  the  age, 
it  is  not  a  perfect  Way;  and  if  a  government 
fails  to  make  its  people  happy,  it  is  not  a 
good  government. 

"It  is  now  ten  years  since  Japan  and  Korea 
were  unified,  and  though  there  has  resulted 
from  it  no  little  profit  to  the  people  with  the 
clearing  away  of  abuses,  still  it  cannot  be 
said  to  have  made  the  people  happy. 

"To-day  when  the  call  for  independence  is 
given  in  the  street,  voices  without  number 
answer  in  response.  In  ten  days  and  less 
the  whole  nation  vibrates  with  its  echo,  and 
even  the  women  and  children  vie  with  each 


AGITATION  AND  REPRESSION       57 

other  with  no  fear  of  death  in  their  hearts. 
What  is  the  reason  for  such  a  state  of  things 
as  this?  Our  view  is  that  having  borne  with 
pain  and  stifled  resentment  to  the  point  of 
bursting,  and  being  unable  to  repress  it  further, 
at  last  they  have  found  expression,  and  like 
the  overflowing  of  the  Whang-ho  River  the 
waves  have  broken  all  bounds,  and  once  hav- 
ing broken  away,  its  power  will  brook  no  re- 
turn. We  call  this  an  expression  of  the  people, 
but  is  it  not,  rather,  the  mind  of  God  himself? 

"There  are  two  ways  of  treating  the  condi- 
tions to-day,  one  a  kind  way  and  one  the  way 
of  repression.  The  liberal  way  would  be  to 
speak  kindly,  soothe,  comfort  so  as  to  remove 
fears  and  misgivings.  But  in  that  case  there 
would  be  no  end  to  the  demonstrations.  The 
use  of  force,  on  the  other  hand,  that  would 
cut  down,  uproot,  beat  to  pieces,  extinguish, 
will  but  rouse  it  the  more  and  never  conquer 
its  spirit.  If  you  do  not  get  at  the  cause, 
you  will  never  settle  the  matter. 

"The  people,  now  roused  to  action,  desire 
that  restored  to  them  that  they  once  possessed, 
in  order  that  the  shame  of  their  slavery  be  re- 
moved. They  have  nothing  but  bare  hands, 
and  a  tongue  with  which  to  speak  the  resent- 
ment they  feel.  You  can  tell  by  this  that 
no  wicked  motive  underlies  their  thoughts. 


68  THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

"The  good  and  superior  man  would  pity  and 
forgive  such  as  this,  and  view  it  with  tender 
sympathy.  We  hear,  however,  that  the  Gov- 
ernment is  arresting  people  right  and  left  till 
they  fill  the  prisons.  There  they  whip,  beat, 
and  torture  them,  until  they  die  violent  deaths 
beneath  it.  The  Government  also  uses  weapons 
till  the  dead  lie  side  by  side,  and  we  are  unable 
to  endure  the  dreadful  stories  we  hear. 

"Nevertheless,  the  whole  state  only  rises  the 
more,  and  the  greater  the  force  used  to  put  it 
down,  the  greater  the  disturbances.  How 
comes  it  that  you  look  not  to  the  cause,  but 
think  only  to  cut  the  manifestation  of  it  down 
by  force?  Though  you  cut  down  and  kill  those 
who  rise  up  everywhere,  you  may  change  the 
face  of  things,  but  the  heart  of  it,  never.  Every 
man  has  written  in  his  soul  the  word  Inde- 
pendence, and  those  who  in  the  quiet  of  their 
rooms  shout  for  it  are  beyond  the  possibility 
of  numbering.  Will  you  arrest  and  kill  them 
all? 

"A  man's  life  is  not  something  to  be  dealt 
with  as  the  grass  that  grows.  In  ancient 
times  Mancius  said  to  King  Sun  of  Che  King- 
dom, 'If  by  taking  possession  of  the  state  you 
can  make  the  people  of  Yun  happy,  take 
possession;  but  if  taking  possession  will  render 
them  miserable,  forbear  to  do  it/ 


AGITATION  AND  REPRESSION       59 

"Though  Mancius  spoke  the  king  paid  no 
attention,  and,  as  a  result,  came  to  a  place 
where  he  finally  said  that  he  was  greatly 
ashamed.  This  is,  indeed,  a  mirror  from  his- 
tory worthy  to  be  looked  into.  Even  the  sage 
cannot  run  counter  to  the  times  in  which  he 
lives.  We  read  the  mind  of  God  in  the  atti- 
tude of  the  people.  If  a  people  are  not  made 
happy,  history  tells  us  that  there  is  no  way 
by  which  their  land  can  be  held  in  possession* — > 

"We,  your  servants,  have  come  to  these 
times  of  danger  and  difficulty.  Old  and  shame- 
less are  we,  for  when  our  country  was  an- 
nexed we  accepted  the  rank  of  nobility,  held 
office,  and  lived  in  disgrace,  till,  seeing  these 
innocent  people  of  ours  in  the  fire  and  water, 
are  unable  to  endure  the  sight  longer.  Thus 
we  too  in  privacy  have  shouted  for  the  inde- 
pendence just  like  the  others. 

"Fearing  not  presumption  on  our  part,  we 
speak  forth  our  hearts,  in  the  hope  that  your 
Excellency  will  be  in  accord  herewith,  and  let 
His  Imperial  Majesty  know  so  that  the  Cabinet 
may  consider  it,  and  set  right  the  cause,  not 
by  mere  soft  words,  not  by  force,  but  in  accord 
with  the  opportunity  that  Heaven  above  grants 
and  the  wishes  of  the  people  speak.  Thus  may 
Japan  give  independence  to  Korea  and  let 
her  justice  be  known  to  the  whole  world  in- 


60  THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

eluding  those  nations  with  whom  she  is  in 
treaty  relation.  Undoubtedly,  all  will  grant 
their  approval,  and  like  the  eclipsed  sun  and 
moon  Japan  will  once  again  resume  the  light 
and  splendor  of  her  way.  Who  will  not  look 
with  praise  and  commendation  on  this  act 
of  yours? 

"We,  your  servants,  behind  closed  doors, 
ill  and  indisposed,  and  knowing  not  the  mind 
of  the  world,  offer  our  poor  woodmen's  counsel 
to  the  state.  If  you  accede  to  it,  countless 
numbers  of  people  will  be  made  happy;  but  if 
you  refuse,  we  two  alone  will  suffer.  We  have 
reached  the  bourn  of  life,  and  so  we  offer  our- 
selves as  a  sacrifice  for  our  people.  Though 
we  die  for  it,  we  have  no  complaints  to  make. 
In  our  sick  chamber  with  our  age  upon  us, 
we  know  not  how  to  speak  persuasively.  We 
pray  your  Excellency  to  kindly  give  this  your 
consideration.  In  a  word,  this  is  what  our 
hearts  would  say." 

Needless  to  say  that  both  were  immediately 
arrested. 


CHAPTER  in 

CHRISTIAN  MISSIONS  FACE  TO  FACE 
WITH  MILITARISM 

Almost  immediately  after  the  news  began  to 
spread  about  the  demonstrations,  a  Tokyo 
paper  came  out  with  an  interview  granted  to 
a  reporter  by  Mr.  M.  Komatsu,  a  former 
director  of  foreign  affairs  under  Count  Terauchi, 
in  which  he  was  alleged  to  have  said  that  the 
foreign  missionaries  were  responsible  for  the 
uprising.  He  himself  later  denied  the  correct- 
ness of  the  report,  and  Mr.  Sangai  Kokubu, 
director  of  judicial  affairs,  gave  out  a  state- 
ment, the  gist  of  which  is  as  follows: 

"Rumors  have  been  rife  that  foreign  mis- 
sionaries incited  the  disturbances,  or,  at  least, 
showed  sympathy  with  the  rioters.  These 
rumors  owe  their  origin  to  the  fact  that  among 
the  leaders  of  the  rioters  there  have  been 
found  Christian  pastors  and  students  of  mis- 
sion schools,  so  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  that 
they  gained  currency.  But  that  they  are 
entirely  groundless  has  been  established  by  the 
result  of  investigations  into  the  matter  con- 
ducted by  the  authorities.  The  authorities 
have  carried  out  thorough  and  strict  inquiries 

61 


62  THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

concerning  it  and  are  satisfied  that  there  is 
no  trace  whatever  that  foreigners  instigated  the 
disturbances.  Nor  is  there  any  evidence  that 
they  knew  beforehand  of  the  occurrence  of 
the  trouble  or  gave  support  to  the  rioters. 
It  is  wrong  to  harbor  suspicion  against  foreign- 
ers without  justifiable  grounds.  It  is  still 
more  to  be  condemned  to  spread  through  the 
press  false  reports  and  baselbss  accusations 
against  foreigners,  fabricating  su^ch  reports  and 
accusations  out  of  mere  suspicion.  Such  acts 
will  excite  the  ill  feeling  of  foreigners  against 
Japan  and  may  cause  trouble  in  international 
relations.  Should  any  foreigners  be  found  guilty 
of  sedition  or  similar  offense,  the  authorities 
will  have  no  hesitation  in  prosecuting  them; 
but,  as  none  have  been  found  to  be  respon- 
sible for  the  recent  trouble,  people  at  large 
should  cast  away  whatever  doubt  they  may 
still  entertain  against  them." 

Despite  this  and  other  pronouncements  made 
by  the  civil  officials  of  the  government  absolv- 
ing the  missionaries,  and  the  clear  fact  that 
this  is  a  general  uprising  of  the  entire  nation, 
the  traditional  hatred  and  suspicion  of  Chris- 
tians, foreign  and  Korean,  on  the  part  of  the 
Japanese  militarists  was  accentuated  to  the 
utmost  degree,  and  their  wrath  of  vengeance 
knew  no  bounds.    Their  sentiment  was  plainly 


fflj  Principal  Cities 

(+|.  Centers 


Map  of  Korea,  showing  principal  areas  where  the  dem- 
onstrations took  place.  The  number  of  demonstra- 
tions far  exceeds  the  number  of  areas  represented  on 
this  map. 


FACE  TO  FACE  WITH  MILITARISM  63 

shown  in  the  March  12th  issue  of  the  Chosen 
Shimbun,  a  Japanese  daily  published  in 
Chemulpo  and  said  to  have  been  the  official 
organ  of  the  Police  and  Gendarmery  Depart- 
ment. An  extract  from  the  said  issue  is  given 
herewith: 

"The  stirring  up  of  the  minds  of  the  Koreans 
is  the  sin  of  the  American  missionaries.  This 
uprising  is  their  work.  In  investigating  the 
cause  of  the  uprising  two  or  three  mission- 
aries have  been  arrested  and  examined.  There 
are  a  good  many  shallow-minded  people  among 
the  missionaries,  and  they  make  the  minds  of 
the  Korean  people  bad,  and  they  plant  the 
seeds  of  democracy.  So  the  greater  part  of 
the  300,000  Korean  Christians  do  not  like  the 
union  of  Japan  and  Korea,  but  they  are  wait- 
ing for  an  opportunity  for  freedom. 

"The  missionaries  look  upon  the  present 
Korean  as  they  did  upon  the  old  Korean,  and 
they  consider  it  proper  for  the  Korean  to  say 
anything  he  wants  to,  if  they  only  enter  the 
Christian  schools.  They  take  the  statement 
of  Wilson  about  the  self-determination  of  na- 
tions and  hide  behind  their  religion  and  stir 
up  the  people.  However,  the  missionaries  have 
tried  to  apply  the  free  customs  of  other  nations 
to  these  Korean  people  who  are  not  fully 
civilized.     From  the  part  that  even  girl  stu- 


64  THE  REBIRTH' OF  KOREA 

dents  in  Christian  schools  have  taken  it  is 
very  evident  that  this  uprising  has  come  from 
the  missionaries. 

"Behind  this  uprising  we  see  the  ghostlike 
apparition  waving  his  wand.  This  ghost  is 
really  hateful,  malicious,  fierce.  Who  is  this 
ghost  wearing  the  dark  clothes?  The  mis- 
sionaries and  the  head  of  the  Chundoism. 
These  missionaries  who  have  come  out  to 
Korea — their  wisdom,  character,  and  disposi- 
tion— is  of  the  low  trash  of  the  nation.  They 
have  sold  themselves  for  the  petty  salary  of 
$150  a  year,  and  they  have  crept  out  as  reptiles 
on  their  belly,  as  far  as  Korea;  there  is  nothing 
good  that  can  be  said  of  their  character,  knowl- 
edge, and  disposition. 

"These  messengers  of  God  are  only  after 
money,  and  are  sitting  around  their  houses 
with  a  full  stomach.  The  bad  things  of  the 
world  are  got  into  the  league  with  the  Chundo- 
ism. If  we  take  all  this  into  consideration, 
these  missionaries  are  all  hated  brutes." 

Everything  in  the  above  quoted  invective 
shows  such  an  obsession  of  mind  with  blind 
fury  that  it  hardly  would  be  worthy  of  serious 
notice  were  it  not  for  the  fact  that  the  under- 
lying spirit  was  soon  translated  into  frightful 
actions.  It  is  positively  false  to  say  that  the 
missionaries  are  at  the  back  of  this  movement, 


FACE  TO  FACE  WITH  MILITARISM  65 

even  though  some  may  admit  with  no  small 
degree  of  pride  the  truth  of  the  charge  that 
they  "plant  the  seed  of  democracy,"  because 
Christianity  itself  is  the  seed  of  democracy. 
The  statement,  that  the  fact  that  girl  students 
in  Christian  schools  have  taken  part  in  the 
demonstration  is  an  evidence  that  the  uprising 
has  come  from  the  missionaries  is  untenable 
because  the  same  argument  necessarily  will 
make  all  the  principals  and  teachers  in  the 
Government  schools  traitors  to  their  country 
for  the  simple  yet  ample  reason  that  the  girls 
and  boys  in  the  Government  schools  also  took 
very  prominent  parts  in  the  uprising.  The 
government  higher  common  school  student,  a 
part  of  whose  testimony  has  been  quoted  in 
the  last  chapter,  told  his  principal  after  his 
release  from  the  jail  that  he  was  trying  to 
live  up  to  what  he  had  learned  in  school. 

Teaching  in  the  abstract  rests  with  the 
teacher,  but  the  application  must  rest  with 
the  will  of  the  learner.  That  is  something  that 
cannot  be  regulated  by  rules  or  outside  forces. 
Mankind  is  very  slow  at  learning  this  great 
lesson,  and  those  who  rely  solely  upon  force 
and  might  for  the  accomplishment  of  things 
that  they  consider  great,  laugh  at  such  a  truth 
as  an  empty  platitude  and  fall  into  the  pit- 
falls they  themselves  have  so  laboriously  dug. 


66  THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

Some  of  those  who  consider  themselves  even 
wiser  try  to  keep  the  people  in  ignorance  and 
darkness,  but  they  fail  to  realize  that  knowl- 
edge is  humanity's  common  heritage,  and  is 
as  pervasive  as  water,  and  that  right  prin- 
ciples are  as  free  as  air.  No  one  needs  to  be 
told  to  be  patriotic:  the  love  of  one's  own  is 
already  there  in  the  hearts  of  men  and  women 
and  it  asserts  itself  when  the  proper  time  comes. 
Be  that  as  it  may,  terrible  things  soon  made 
visitations  upon  the  churches  and  individual 
Christians. 

The  massacre  and  burning  of  Che-Am-Ri  is 
a  familiar  story  by  this  time.  It  was  published 
in  the  newspapers  and  magazines  both  in  the 
East  and  West,  and  it  is  now  in  the  United 
States  Congressional  Records.  The  following  is 
a  graphic  description  of  what  a  British  subject 
witnessed  and  heard  three  days  after  the  firing 
of  the  village: 

"On  Thursday,  April  17th,  news  was  brought 
to  Seoul  by  certain  foreigners  that  a  most 
terrible  tragedy  had  occurred  in  a  small  vil- 
lage some  50  ri  (17  miles)  south  of  Suwon. 
The  story  was  that  a  number  of  Christians 
had  been  shut  up  in  a  church,  then  fired  upon 
by  soldiers  and  when  all  were  either  wounded 
or  dead  the  church  had  been  set  on  fire,  in 
this  way  insuring  their  complete  destruction. 


FACE  TO  FACE  WITH  MILITARISM  67 

Such  a  story  seemed  almost  too  terrible  to  be 
true,  and  being  of  such  a  serious  nature,  I 
was  determined  to  verify  it  by  a  personal 
visit.  The  following  day  I  took  a  train  to 
Suwon  and  from  there  cycled  to  within  a  few 
miles  of  the  village.  A  police  station  and  gen- 
darmery  lying  this  side  of  the  village,  and 
knowing  the  strenuous  objections  that  would 
be  made  to  my  visit,  I  made  a  detour  of  several 
miles  over  a  mountain  pass  and  thus  gained 
access  to  the  stricken  village. 

"Before  entering  I  questioned  many  people 
as  to  the  reported  burning  of  the  village,  but 
none  had  any  very  accurate  information,  and 
all  were  very  much  afraid  to  speak  about  the 
affair.  I  finally  met  a  boy  who  lived  in  the 
village  where  the  massacre  had  occurred,  but 
he  absolutely  refused  to  tell  me  anything.  He 
protested  ignorance.  Terrorism  was  bearing 
its  fruit.  The  people  were  almost  paralyzed 
with  fear. 

"Making  a  sharp  turn  in  the  road,  I  came 
suddenly  into  the  village  and  to  my  surprise 
found  a  number  of  government  officials,  mil- 
itary and  civil,  holding  an  investigation.  After 
a  conversation  with  some  of  these  officials  I 
was  allowed  to  look  further  over  this  village 
and  take  some  photographs.  From  Koreans  I 
could    get  practically   no  information.     They 


68  THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

seemed  to  be  dazed  and  stupefied,  especially 
the  women,  while  the  younger  men  pretended 
ignorance  of  any  detail. 

"The  Village.  The  appearance  of  the  village 
was  one  of  absolute  desolation.  About  eight 
houses  remained;  the  rest  (31)  with  the  church 
had  been  all  burned  to  the  ground.  All  that 
remained  were  the  great  stone  jars  of  pickle, 
chang,  and  edibles.  These  stood  in  perfect 
order  silent  among  the  ruins.  The  people 
were  scattered  about  sitting  on  mats  or  straw. 
Some  had  already  improvised  little  shelters 
adjoining  the  hillside.  There  they  sat  in  si- 
lence looking  down  in  bewilderment  at  the 
remains  of  their  once  happy  homes.  What 
had  they  done  that  this  terrible  judgment 
should  overtake  them?  Why  should  they  sud- 
denly be  made  widows  and  their  little  ones 
orphans?    Surely,  some  mistake  had  been  made. 

"The  Massacre.  Before  long  the  Government 
party  left  the  village,  and  when  the  last  officer 
was  well  out  of  sight  the  tongues  of  some  of 
these  poor  frightened  people  loosened  and  they 
revealed  to  me  the  story  of  the  brutal  murder. 
The  story  was  as  follows:  On  Tuesday,  April 
15th,  early  in  the  afternoon  some  soldiers  had 
entered  the  village  and  given  orders  that  all 
the  adult  male  Christians  and  members  of  the 
Chundo-Kyo  were  to  assemble  in  the  church, 


FACE  TO  FACE  WITH  MILITARISM  69 

as  a  lecture  was  to  be  given  to  them.  In  all 
some  twenty-three  men  went  to  the  church 
and,  as  ordered,  sat  down,  wondering  what 
was  to  happen.  They  soon  found  out  the 
nature  of  the  plot,  as  the  soldiers  immediately 
surrounded  the  church  and  fired  into  it  through 
the  paper  windows.  When  most  of  them  had 
thus  been  either  killed  or  injured  the  devilish 
soldiers  set  fire  to  the  thatch  and  wooden 
building  that  readily  blazed.  Some  now  tried 
to  escape  by  rushing  out,  but  they  were  imme- 
diately bayoneted  or  shot.  Six  bodies  were 
found  outside  the  church,  these  having  tried 
in  vain  to  make  their  escape.  Two  women 
whose  husbands  had  been  ordered  to  the 
church,  being  alarmed  at  the  sound  of  the 
firing  went  to  see  what  was  happening  to  their 
husbands,  and  tried  to  get  through  the  soldiers 
to  the  church;  both  were  brutally  murdered. 
One  was  a  young  woman  of  nineteen;  she  was 
bayoneted  to  death;  the  other,  a  woman  of 
forty,  was  shot.  Both  were  Christians.  The 
soldiers  then  set  the  village  on  fire  and  left. 
This  is  briefly  the  story  of  the  bloody  massacre 
of  Che-Am-Ri.  The  blame  for  this  cannot 
be  placed  upon  the  shoulders  of  the  ignorant 
and  boorish  Japanese  soldiers;  officials  higher 
up  were  cognizant  of  if  not  directly  party  to 
the  plot. 


70  THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

"Some  foreigners  who  were  at  the  village 
the  day  after  the  burning  and  photographed 
one  of  the  dead  and  burned  bodies  said  that 
'the  smell  of  the  burning  flesh  was  frightful.' 
Do  you  wonder  that  the  people  were  paralyzed 
with  fear?  The  story  was  told  me  by  several 
of  the  villagers;  all  their  stories  were  sub- 
stantially the  same.  The  poor  people  begged 
me  to  give  them  protection.  They  said  they 
were  living  in  constant  dread  of  further  atroc- 
ities. They  did  not  know  when  some  more 
police  and  soldiers  would  come  and,  maybe, 
exterminate  them.  One  young  widow  who  had 
previously  passed  through  a  mission  school 
came  up  and  shook  hands  with  me  and  told 
me  in  tears  how  her  husband  had  been  killed. 
Then  another  woman  told  me  of  her  grief,  then 
another  and  another.  They  wondered  when 
the  missionaries  would  come  again,  yet  they 
were  afraid  that  if  they  did  come  it  would  make 
things  worse.  Their  plight  was  heartrending; 
their  tears  and  sobs  would  break  a  heart  of  rock. 

"I  left  them  with  some  words  of  comfort, 
and  while  going  one  dear  woman  said,  'They 
can  kill  us  or  do  what  they  like,  but  we  will 
always  believe  in  Jesus.'  My  presence  seemed 
to  have  broken  to  some  extent  the  spell  that 
had  been  over  them.  They  began  to  realize 
more  keenly   what  had   happened,   and   then 


FACE  TO  FACE  WITH  MILITARISM  71 

across  the  valley  came  the  sounds  of  the 
women  wailing  for  their  husbands  and  cries 
of  the  orphans  for  their  parents. 

"I  returned  that  evening,  and  again  stopped 
to  give  a  few  hurried  words  of  comfort.  While 
speaking  a  youth  came  running  to  me.  He 
had  escaped,  but  he  said  he  had  lost  both 
father  and  mother.  His  mother  worrying  by 
her  husband  being  in  the  church  when  the 
soldiers  commenced  to  fire,  had  gone  to  rescue 
him,  and  as  reported  above  she  was  murdered 
on  the  spot.  I  had  to  leave  them,  hard  as  it 
was.  Who  would  not  want  to  stay  and  com- 
fort these  poor  helpless  souls?  I  left  a  little 
girl  preparing  the  evening  meal  for  her  widowed 
mother,  in  a  pot  held  up  by  some  broken 
stones,  with  a  little  straw  for  kindling.  I 
left  a  little  orphan  baby  lying  wrapped  up  in 
a  few  rags  on  a  mat  of  straw.  I  left  them 
desolate  and  broken,  yet  they  realized  that 
while  alone  they  were  not  alone;  they  had 
the  company  of  One  who  has  a  special  care 
for  the  *  widow  and  the  fatherless.' ' 

This  is  not  the  only  village  in  the  same  neigh- 
borhood that  met  the  frightful  fate.  One 
foreigner  who  visited  the  district  remarked  that 
from  a  hilltop  smoke  coming  up  from  ten  or 
eleven  different  places  could  be  seen.  One 
more  report  is  here  quoted: 


72  THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

"The  hamlet  of  Su-Chon  is  beautifully  sit- 
uated in  a  pretty  valley  some  four  or  five  miles 
from  Che-Am-Ri,  where  the  previously  re- 
ported massacre  occurred.  I  arrived  at  the 
outskirt  of  the  village  at  four  o'clock  on  the 
afternoon  of  April  17th,  and  seeing  a  woman 
standing  on  the  top  of  a  high  bank  which  here 
flanks  the  road  on  the  left  side,  I  asked  whether 
I  had  arrived  at  the  village  of  Su-Chon.  She 
replied,  'Yes,  it  lies  at  the  bottom  of  the  hill.' 
After  a  word  or  two  with  regard  to  the  village 
she  said  in  a  broken  voice,  'Are  you  a  Chris- 
tian?' I  replied,  'Yes,  are  you?'  She  answered 
by  rushing  across  the  road  and  grasping  my 
hands.  She  said,  'O  I  am  so  thankful!  O  I 
am  so  thankful!'  She  continued,  'Our  village 
has  been  burnt,  the  church  destroyed,  and 
many  of  the  people  badly  hurt;  please  come 
and  look  at  the  village.'  I  said  that  I  had 
come  for  that  purpose,  and  would  cycle  in 
ahead  of  her.  She  then  introduced  me  to  the 
two  boys  who  were  standing  with  her.  They 
were  the  sons  of  the  pastor.  All  three  were 
standing  on  the  hilltop  watching  the  direction 
in  which  a  small  company  of  soldiers  were  go- 
ing. They  were  awfully  afraid  of  the  soldiers 
and  were  anxious  to  make  sure  of  their  definite 
departure. 

"It  had  been  a  beautiful  village,  so  prettily 


FACE  TO  FACE  WITH  MILITARISM  73 

located,  with  such  cozy  cottages,  but  the  Hun 
had  been  there,  and  his  fingerprints  black  and 
brutal  lay  heavily  upon  the  landscape.  The 
narrow  streets  were  lined  with  ash  heaps.  Out 
of  about  forty-two  cottages  eight  alone  re- 
mained. Little  attempt  had  yet  been  made 
to  clear  away  the  debris,  for  what  security  of 
life  and  property  had  they — might  not  their 
new  homes  perish  like  the  old?  Some  old  women 
were  sitting  by  their  few  belongings.  Their 
grief  had  almost  overcome  them.  They  were 
listless  and  indifferent,  and  one  wondered  if 
they  were  not  wishing  that  they  too  might 
have  perished  when  the  cruel  flame  swept 
away  their  homes.  There  were  some  little 
children  picking  herbs  out  in  the  fields.  They 
must  have  something  to  eat,  and  all  their 
stock  of  rice  and  other  food  had  been  destroyed. 
The  police  and  soldiers  being  absent,  the 
people  flocked  around  me  and  seemed  anxious 
to  tell  me  of  their  misfortune.  They  had  re- 
covered from  the  first  shock,  but  were  in  the 
same  constant  fear  lest  the  soldiers  should 
come  back  once  more  and  destroy  them  in 
the  same  brutal  way  as  they  had  destroyed 
their  homes. 

"The  Story  of  the  Crime  of  April  6th.  Before 
daybreak,  while  all  were  sleeping,  some  soldiers 
entered  the  village  and  had  gone  from  house 


74  THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

to  house  firing  the  thatch  roofs,  which  quickly 
burned  and  destroyed  the  entire  home.  The 
people  rushed  out  and  found  the  whole  village 
blazing.  Some  tried  to  put  the  fire  out  but 
were  soon  stopped  by  the  soldiers,  who  shot 
at  them,  stabbed  them  with  bayonets,  and 
beat  them.  They  had  to  stand  by  and  watch 
their  village  burn  to  ashes.  After  completing 
their  nefarious  work  the  soldiers  left  them  to 
their  fate.  They  said  one  man  alone  was 
killed  but  many  seriously  injured.  I  asked 
if  wind  had  spread  the  fire  from  house  to 
house.  The  reply  was:  'The  village  was  on 
fire  at  several  places  at  the  same  time.  The 
soldiers  carried  matches  and  lit  the  thatch  of 
many  houses.'  A  survey  of  the  village  showed 
the  impossibility  of  the  fire  spreading  to  all 
the  houses,  the  space  between  in  some  cases 
being  many  yards.  Also  the  village  was  in 
three  sections,  a  small  valley  and  hill  making 
this  natural  division.  I  asked  to  see  the 
wounded,  and  was  taken  to  an  inner  room  of 
a  house,  and  there  found  a  middle-aged  man 
in  most  pitiful  condition.  His  left  arm  from 
elbow  down  was  swollen  to  twice  its  normal 
size,  the  sore  cut  at  the  elbow  was  full  of 
pus;  also  the  rags  which  had  been  used  for 
dressing.  The  smell  was  sickening.  The  man 
was  a  Christian,  and  said  that  when  the  vil- 


FACE  TO  FACE  WITH  MILITARISM  75 

lage  was  fired  he  had  gone  out  and  was  imme- 
diately attacked  by  a  soldier  who  cut  him 
with  his  knife  (most  likely  bayonet).  He  had 
had  no  medical  attention  and  said  that  he 
was  feeling  very  ill.  His  respiration  was  36 
and  his  pulse  was  120.  He  seemed  to  be  in 
much  pain  and  had  become  somewhat  ema- 
ciated. I  told  the  people  that  he  must  be  taken 
to  a  hospital  immediately  or  else  he  would 
likely  die.  After  bathing  the  wound  and 
putting  on  a  clean  dressing,  I  left  the  poor 
fellow  with  a  few  words  of  cheer  and  a  prom- 
ise of  further  attention.  Fortunately,  the  next 
day  we  made  arrangements  for  him  to  be 
taken  to  a  government  hospital.  When  the 
local  policeman  saw  him  in  his  house  before 
removal  to  the  hospital,  he  immediately  said, 
'We  did  not  do  that.'  I  replied,  'You  did'; 
but  he  was  insistent.  Then  he  said,  'This 
man  is  a  very  bad  man.' 

"As  I  left  the  house  an  old  man  came 
hobbling  on  a  stick  and  told  me  he  had  been 
badly  hurt.  I  asked  him  to  show  me.  Rolling 
up  his  trousers,  I  saw  five  or  six  punctured 
wounds  in  the  upper  leg,  all  of  them  healing 
nicely.  I  asked  how  it  happened,  and  he  told 
me  that  on  the  morning  of  the  fire  a  soldier 
jabbed  him  with  a  bayonet.  He  then  showed 
me  the  other  leg  which  was  greenish  yellow 


76  THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

in  many  places.  He  said  that  another  soldier 
tried  to  kill  him,  clubbing  him  with  his  rifle. 

"I  went  into  another  house  and  found  two 
men  in  one  room  lying  quietly  on  the  floor. 
I  asked  what  the  trouble  was,  and  they  re- 
plied, 'The  soldiers  beat  us  badly.'  As  I  re- 
member this  story,  they  had  been  led  out  of 
the  village  and  beaten  on  the  roadside  with 
a  club.  I  saw  their  bodies;  the  bruising  was 
indeed  frightful. 

"Nothing  definite  could  be  said  about  the 
church.  It  may  have  caught  accidentally  or 
have  been  definitely  fired — they  did  not  know. 

"I  told  them  I  must  go  immediately  and 
make  arrangements  for  the  wounded  man  to 
get  to  a  hospital  if  his  life  was  to  be  saved. 
There  were  many  things  they  wanted  me  to 
see  and  many  things  they  desired  to  say. 
They  pleaded  for  protection,  '0  when  will 
the  soldiers  go?'  'When  will  people  come  and 
help  us?'  They  were  terrified,  and  in  constant 
dread  of  burning,  shooting,  and  arrest.  I 
hurriedly  said  farewell  and  promised  to  return 
the  next  day  with  help  for  the  wounded. 
They  were  so  thankful  and  begged  that  I  return. 

"Note.  The  following  day  a  number  of 
missionaries  visited  the  village,  but  due  to 
the  presence  of  the  police,  the  people  were 
unable  to  say  anything." 


FACE  TO  FACE  WITH  MILITARISM  77 

Further  recital  of  these  gruesome  stories  is 
harrowing,  even  though  this  brief  account  does 
seem  inadequate  without  any  of  the  many 
stories  of  cruelties  that  have  been  perpetrated 
upon  the  Christians  and  of  desecrations  of  the 
churches  in  the  northern  provinces.  Suffice  is 
as  a  summary  to  append  the  following  para- 
graphs taken  from  an  extended  report  on  the 
situation,  found  in  the  United  States  Con- 
gressional Record,  1919,  p.  2859: 

"From  the  very  first  day  of  the  demonstra- 
tions the  officials  have  paid  more  attention  to 
Christian  participation  than  to  that  of  any 
other  class.  Arrests  of  those  actually  taking 
part  in  demonstrations  and  made  upon  the 
spot  were  naturally  made  without  discrimina- 
tion, but  in  the  campaign  of  general  arrests 
which  followed  throughout  the  country,  Chris- 
tians have  been  singled  out  for  marked  dis- 
crimination, even  before  demonstrations  have 
taken  place,  in  many  instances. 

"Throughout  the  country  the  police  imme- 
diately began  to  arrest  pastors,  elders,  and 
other  church  officers.  Some  of  these  have  been 
released  after  weeks  of  imprisonment  and 
examination.  Sentences  against  others  are  be- 
ing daily  announced,  even  in  the  case  of  men 
who  took  no  part  in  the  demonstrations,  rang- 
ing from  six  months  to  three  years  of  penal 


78  THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

servitude.  Of  course  no  apology  is  intended 
for  those  who  took  part  in  the  uprising  de- 
liberately and  expecting  the  consequences.  We 
are  emphasizing  the  fact  of  the  wholesale 
arrest  and  beating  of  Christians  simply  because 
they  are  Christians.  In  some  places  the  men 
and  women  of  the  village  were  called  together; 
all  those  who  admitted  they  were  Christians 
were  maltreated  or  arrested  and  the  others 
sent  away.  Wayfarers  met  by  soldiers  and 
gendarmes  are  asked  whether  they  are  Chris- 
tians, and  beaten  and  abused  on  the  admission 
of  the  fact.  Korean  Christians  remaining  in 
the  villages  are  given  all  sorts  of  announce- 
ments by  local  police  and  gendarmes.  They 
are  told  that  Christianity  is  to  be  exterminated, 
that  all  Christians  are  to  be  shot,  that  meet- 
ings are  to  be  forbidden. 

"We  cannot  go  into  further  details  in  this 
report.  But  it  cannot  be  doubted  that  a 
persistent  campaign  is  being  carried  on  against 
Christianity  under  the  plan  of  suppressing 
revolt. 

"Vilifying,  beating  old  men  and  little  chil- 
dren, breaking  up  meetings  by  armed  officers 
and  men,  wholesale  arrests,  brutal  treatment 
of  those  under  arrest,  threats  and  intimidation, 
and  massacre  are  all  being  employed  to  break 
the  spirit  of   Christians   and   to  prevent   the 


FACE  TO  FACE  WITH  MILITARISM  79 

spread  of  Christianity.  These  statements  are 
supported  by  photographs,  signed  statements, 
and  narratives  on  file." 

As  it  has  already  been  dwelt  upon,  ana  as 
all  other  competent  facts  will  show,  this  move- 
ment is  distinctly  a  nation-wide  Korean  move- 
ment; and  no  one  section  of  the  country,  nor 
any  one  group  or  class  of  people  has  a  monopoly 
in  its  guidance.  As  Yi  Sang-Chai,  the  Tolstoy 
of  Korea,  has  said  when  he  was  asked  by  a 
secret  service  man  who  the  people  were  that 
were  running  it  said,  "All  the  Korean  people 
from  Fusan  to  the  Ever-White  Mountains1 
and  beyond.  They  are  all  in  it.  They  are 
the  committees  back  of  the  agitation." 


1  The  Ever- White  Mountains,  or  Chang- Paik  San,  are  the 
long  range  of  high  mountains  between  northern  Korea  and 
Manchuria. 


PART  TWO 

CAUSES 


CHAPTER  IV 

JAPANESE  ADMINISTRATION 

To  treat  the  causes  of  the  Korean  uprising 
exhaustively  is  obviously  a  hopeless  task. 
The  elements  that  enter  into  racial  sympathies 
and  antipathies  should  be  studied.  One  has 
to  recognize  the  sociological  "consciousness  of 
kind,"  as  Professor  Giddings  has  termed  it. 
A  historical  setting  that  goes  as  far  back  at 
least  as  1592,  the  time  of  Japanese  invasion 
of  Korea,  is  of  vital  importance  for  the  proper 
comprehension  of  our  problem. 

A  nation's  memory  is  not  erasible.  As  soon 
as  a  Korean  child  is  able  to  understand,  it 
picks  up  here  and  there  the  story  of  the  terri- 
ble scourge  that  swept  the  country  over  three 
centuries  ago.  Tens  of  thousands  of  men, 
women,  and  children  were  massacred  in  the 
most  horrible  manner.  Cities  and  hamlets 
were  burned  down  to  the  ground.  Whole 
villages  were  deported.  Travelers  and  stu- 
dents who  go  to  Japan  now  are  reminded  of 
the  barbarities  perpetrated  upon  their  fore- 
fathers, by  the  sight  of  what  is  called  the 
"Ear  Mound."  It  is  traditionally  told  with 
pride  by  the  Japanese  that  over  two  hundred 

83 


84  THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

thousand  ears  cut  off  from  the  Koreans  during 
the  invasion  are  buried  under  the  mound. 

But  space  does  not  permit  the  recital  of 
those  parts  of  history  that  transpired  during 
the  past  centuries,  nor  admissible  is  the  re- 
cital of  the  intrigues,  intimidations,  and  em- 
ployment of  armed  forces  since  February  26, 
1876,  when  intercourse  between  Korea  and 
Japan  was  reestablished,  until  August  22,  1910, 
when  the  Treaty  of  Union1  was  signed.  Our 
task  is  of  necessity  confined  to  the  conditions 
that  obtain  since  the  year  1910,  when  the 
two  nations  were  politically  unified.  (For 
information  on  historical  matters,  the  reader  is 
referred  to  Hulbert's  History  and  Griffis'  Corea.) 

Material  Improvements 

It  is  due  to  justice  to  give  full  credit  to  the 
Japanese  in  power  for  the  material  improve- 
ments introduced  during  the  eight  years,  even 
without  questioning  the  major  motives  that 
actuated  the  introduction  or  as  to  whom  the 
improvements  benefit  most.  Along  with  the 
Japanese,  the  Koreans  ride  on  the  railways, 
use  the  extended  communication  system,  which 


1Even  though  Annexation  is  more  generally  used,  Union 
conveys  the  exact  meaning  of  the  original  Chinese  term  used  in 
the  text  of  the  Treaty. 


JAPANESE  ADMINISTRATION        85 

include  postal,  telephone,  and  telegraph,  and 
travel  on  the  improved  or  new  roads,  which 
have  been  built  with  their  commandeered  labor 
and  land.  The  farmers  take  advantage  of  the 
encouragement  given  by  the  Government  and 
better  the  methods  of  agriculture  and  afforesta- 
tion. The  inhabitants  on  the  seacoast  either 
buy  new  appliances  from  the  Japanese  or  make 
slight  changes  in  the  old  ones  to  conform 
with  the  new  ways  of  fishing.  Sometimes  the 
new  ways  do  not  work,  but  the  experiment  is 
an  education  in  itself. 

According  to  the  latest  official  statistics,  the 
length  of  railway  lines  increased  from  674 
miles  in  1910  to  1,066  miles;  the  number  of 
post  offices  from  447  to  526;  telegraph  wires 
from  9,516  miles  to  17,385;  telephone  lines 
from  12,544  miles  to  26,382;  and  there  were 
at  the  end  of  March,  1917,  1,923  miles  of 
first-class  roads  (24  feet  wide);  3,422  miles  of 
second-class  roads  (18  feet);  and  2,118  miles 
of  third-class  roads  (12  feet).  The  output  of 
rice,  according  to  the  Annual  Report,  in- 
creased from  7,917,621  bags  to  12,531,009; 
wheat  and  barley  from  3,548,441  bags  to 
6,259,007  (1  bag  =  4.96  bushels);  cotton  from 
11,473,170  keun  to  45,335,505  (1  keun  =  1.32 
lbs.);  cocoons  from  13,931  bags  to  71,921;  cat- 
tle from  906,075  heads  to  1,353,108;    and  the 


86  THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

sea  products  from  $3,621,247  to  $7,875,711  in 
value. 

While  some  of  the  greater  disparities  in  the 
comparative  figures  can  be,  to  an  extent, 
accounted  for  by  the  better  facilities  afforded 
in  getting  more  accurate  reports  during  the 
recent  years  than  formerly,  owing  to  the  more 
elaborate  systems  worked  out  by  the  police 
and  other  governmental  offices,  the  increase 
nevertheless  resulting  from  the  improved  meth- 
ods and  modern  appliances  has  been  remark- 
able. It  bespeaks  amply  the  efficiency  of  the 
Japanese  administrative  machinery  in  bring- 
ing about  certain  desired  results  along  ma- 
terial lines,  and  the  capacity  of  the  Korean 
people  for  making  progress  under  conditions 
where  adaptation  is  possible. 

Treatment  of  the  People 

Attitude  of  the  People  in  1910.  At  the  time 
of  the  fateful  "Union  of  Japan  and  Korea" 
the  people  could  be  divided  roughly  into 
three  groups: 

First,  those  who  were  "profoundly  sorrowful" 
over  the  termination  of  separate  existence  of 
the  country.  These  were  the  progressives  and 
the  reform  elements,  who  through  long  years 
of  hard  struggle  had  first  to  contend  with  the 


JAPANESE  ADMINISTRATION        87 

conservatives  in  the  old  regime  and  then  in 
turn  with  the  Japanese,  the  Russians,  and 
again  the  Japanese.  They  suffered  imprison- 
ment, expatriation,  and  all  other  privations 
imaginable.  But  the  cunning  intrigues  and  the 
brutal  forces  were  too  much  for  them,  and  the 
opening  of  the  Hermit  Kingdom  to  the  Western 
civilization  was  of  too  late  a  date  to  enable 
them  to  gather  enough  strength  to  turn  the 
scale  in  the  national  crisis. 

Second,  those  who  were  indifferent  and  self- 
sufficient.  In  number  at  least  these  predom- 
inated, but  they  utterly  failed  to  comprehend 
the  true  import  of  the  political  disaster.  Their 
attitude  was  that  Korea  had  governed  herself 
under  her  own  monarch  and  with  her  own 
laws  for  over  forty  centuries,  and  that  no 
outward  change  could  make  a  real  difference. 
Little  they  knew  that  this  time  outward  change 
spelled  inward  change  as  well!  True,  they 
would  say,  "We  had  our  relations  with  the 
Chinese  from  time  to  time,  but  we  always 
ruled  ourselves.  Now,  you  say  that  the  Jap- 
anese are  going  to  make  some  sort  of  con- 
nection with  us,  but  what  can  the  little  Islanders 
do?"  So  on  continued  their  dreamy  talk, 
until  their  national  life  was  cut  short  and  their 
innocent  slumber  unceremoniously  wakened  by 
mailed  fist. 


88  THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

Third,  those  who  placed  themselves  under 
the  influence  of  the  Japanese.  They  were  the 
least  in  number,  but  they  found  themselves 
able  to  be  the  loudest  in  their  sophisticated 
talk.  They  argued  that  Japan  was  one  of  the 
first-class  powers  of  the  world  and  that  she 
had  just  laws  and  enlightened  government. 
Under  the  Japanese  laws,  the  Westerners  could 
not  exercise  the  exterritoriality,  and  their 
arrogance  would  become  a  thing  of  the  past. 
Japan  had  the  universal  educational  system, 
and  as  soon  as  Korea  united  with  Japan  all 
the  children  in  Korea  would  be  in  school. 
Japan  had  a  higher  tariff  than  Korea,  so 
Korean  industry  would  be  well  protected.  In 
short,  Koreans  would  live  under  the  same 
laws,  get  the  same  education,  enjoy  equal 
rights  and  privileges,  and  be  happy  ever  after- 
ward. But  by  irony  of  fate  these  same  people 
have  taken  the  leading  part  in  this  Independ- 
ence Movement,  their  vain  hope  having  been 
ruthlessly  dashed  to  the  ground. 

Peerage,  The  mind  of  the  world  was  care- 
fully prepared  for  the  Unification.  The  West- 
ern nations  were  told  that  the  Korean  Court 
was  hopelessly  incapable,  the  officials  irredeem- 
ably corrupt,  and  the  people  lost  at  once  in 
stupidity  and  cunning,  incredulity  and  super- 
stition, illiteracy  and  sophistry,  drudgery  and 


JAPANESE  ADMINISTRATION        89 

laziness,  etc.,  and  that  the  Japanese  rule  was 
a  "political  necessity"  as  well  as  a  would-be 
blessing  to  the  Korean  people.  So  the  world 
believed,  and  the  outcome  was  watched  with 
great  expectation. 

The  very  first  act  that  followed  the  coup 
was  the  creation  of  peerage  and  grant  of  mone- 
tary gifts  to  the  old  officials — the  same  old 
corrupt  officials,  who,  up  to  the  moment,  were 
so  studiously  denounced  before  the  world.  The 
peerage  was  practically  a  new  thing  in  Korea, 
but  it  was  not  the  novelty  that  threw  the 
people  into  consternation.  The  record  and 
character  of  the  persons  who  were  chosen  to 
constitute  jthe  ~oe  w  nobility  were  a  standing 
challenge  to  the  sincerity  of  the  new  regime, 
which  elevated  them.  There  were  some 
ftP!Vftnt.y-t.wo.  who  were  made  barons,  vis- 
counts, counts,  etc.,  and  with  a  very  few 
exceptions  they  were  all  the  corruptionists  and 
"squeezers"  who  had  ruined  the  country. 
Some  of  the  more  upright  and  respected 
statesmen  were  conspicuous  by  their  omission. 
It  was  an  evidence  of  a  strange  turn  of  psy- 
chology. A  group  of  persons,  hated  and 
denounced  when  they  had  their  own  way, 
become  so  converted  and  metamorphosed  over- 
night that  their  new  worth  is  recognized  by 
hereditary  nobility  and  monetary  grants,  rang- 


90  THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

ing  from  25,000  yen  to  200,000  yen,  to  add  to 
the  ill-gotten  millions  which  some  of  them 
already  have  in  their  possession. 

How,  on  the  other  hand,  were  those  who 
belonged  to  the  former  progressive  party 
treated?  They  found  their  lives  most  miser- 
able. Through  the  police  espionage  and  gen- 
darme's bullying,  life  was  so  unbearable  for 
them  that  most  of  them  had  to  leave  the 
country  and  escape  to  Manchuria  and  Siberia, 
and  some  to  Hawaii  and  America.  Those  who 
remain  in  the  country  have  the  possibility  of 
becoming  "the  government's  guest"  staring 
into  their  faces  night  and  day.  In  this  world 
of  interdependence,  in  theory  at  least,  the 
interest  of  one  social  group  is  not  necessarily 
incompatible  with  that  of  another,  and  may 
be  mutually  helpful;  yet  zealousness  on  the 
part  of  the  Koreans  for  the  interest  of  their 
own  people  often  is  looked  upon  as  anti-Jap- 
anese. It  is  altogether  easy  that  even  an 
individual  difference  between  a  Korean  and  a 
Japanese  receives  such  an  interpretation.  The 
duty  of  the  ever-busy  secret  police  under  the 
military  rule  calls  for  the  collecting  of  evi- 
dences of  every  action  and  inaction  of  these 
marked  men  (joo-eui-mool) ,  and  when  they  are 
pieced  together  it  is  not  unnatural  if  a  con- 
struction not  free  from  some  preconceived  no- 


JAPANESE  ADMINISTRATION        91 

tion  of  the  police  should  result.     So  they  are 
in  constant  toils. 

Laws 

1.  Legislation.  On  the  15th  of  April,  1919, 
the  Governor-General  of  Chosen  promulgated  a 
decree  that  on  and  after  that  date  any  Korean 
participating  in  the  independence  movement 
either  in  or  outside  of  Korea  would  be  punish- 
able by  ten  years'  imprisonment.  This  is  one 
of  the  many  laws  applicable  only  to  the  Koreans. 
Its  enactment  and  enforcement  are  practically 
at  the  pleasure  of  the  Governor-General.  The 
following  is  the  text  of  the  Imperial  Ordinance 
empowering  the  Governor-General  to  legislate: 

Ordinance  No.  324  Relating  to  Laws  and  Ordinances 
to  Be  Enforced  in  Chosen 

August  29,  1910 

Article  1.  Matters  requiring  the  enactment  of  a  law 
in  Chosen  may  be  regulated  by  a  decree  of  the  Governor- 
General  of  Chosen. 

Article  2.  The  Imperial  sanction  shall,  through  the 
Minister  President  of  States,  be  obtained  for  promul- 
gation of  decree  mentioned  in  the  preceding  article. 

Article  3.  In  case  of  urgent  necessity,  the  Governor- 
General  of  Chosen  may  immediately  issue  the  decree1 
mentioned  in  Article  1. 

Imperial  sanction  shall  be  obtained  for  the  decree 
mentioned  in  the  preceding  clause  immediately  after 
the  promulgation;   and  if   the  Imperial  sanction  is  not 

1  Italics  are  mine. 


92  THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

given  to  the  said  decree,  the  Governor-General  of  Chosen 
shall  declare  that  the  same  decree  shall  cease  to  be  effec- 
tive for  the  future. 

The  purport  of  the  last  clause  appears  to  be 
to  preserve  the  dignity  of  the  imperial  prerog- 
ative, but  the  question  may  be  asked,  What 
about  the  unfortunate  men  and  women  who 
shall  have  been  dealt  with  under  the  decree 
from  the  time  of  promulgation  until  the  declar- 
ation of  the  ineffectiveness  for  the  future  of  the 
same  decree?  Again,  what  safeguard  have  the 
Korean  people  against  a  Warren  Hastings  pro- 
mulgating another  and  similar  decree  and  en- 
forcing it  until  the  sanction  is  officially  with- 
held? It  is  presumed  that  government  officials 
do  not  err,  and  it  may  be  that  that  is  thought 
to  be  a  sufficient  guarantee. 

By  virtue  of  this  ordinance,  the  whole  set 
of  Peace  Preservation  Laws  has  been  decreed, 
and  under  these  laws  many  have  been  ban- 
ished to  lonely  and  far-away  islands  even  with- 
out a  public  trial.  To  give  one  instance,  there 
was  a  Christian  pastor,  named  Son,  doing 
missionary  work  in  Manchuria.  He  was  ar- 
rested, brought  to  Seoul,  and  confined  in  the 
police  jail.  He  was  not  tortured.  Torturing 
is  against  the  laws  of  enlightened  Japan.  He 
was  only  "severely  admonished"  during  exam- 
inations.   The  stories  he  told  his  friends  after 


JAPANESE  ADMINISTRATION        93 

his  release  were  pathetic  indeed.  Sometimes 
in  the  night  he  would  be  taken  before  the 
examiners.  After  asking  some  questions,  they 
would  proceed  with  the  "admonition."  They 
would  bring  his  arms  behind  him,  one  arm 
over  the  shoulder,  and  tie  him  by  his  two 
thumbs.  Then  they  would  sling  the  rope  over 
the  door  and  pull  it  until  his  big  toes  barely 
touch  the  floor.  When  he  is  thus  getting  the 
full  effect  of  this  mechanical  aid  to  his  mem- 
ory the  inquisitors  go  back  to  their  seats 
and  play  the  game  of  go  and  sip  away  their 
cups  of  sake.  Once  so  often  they  come  back 
to  him  and  tickle  him,  burn  him  with  a  lighted 
cigarette,  or  beat  him,  until  he  becomes  uncon- 
scious. They  kept  this  up  for  eight  nights,  but 
he  would  not  confess  anything  he  had  not  done. 
So  he  was,  later,  banished  to  the  Chinto  Island 
for  two  years,  as  usual,  without  a  public  trial.1 
2.  Penal  Codes.  Not  only  is  there  the  dif- 
ference in  the  procedure  of  legal  enactment, 
but  the  penal  codes  are  also  different  in  degree 
and  in  kind  in  their  application  to  Korea. 
The  codes  applying  to  Koreans  are  severer, 
on  the  assumption  they  need  heavier  penalties 
in  order  to  bring  about  a  desired  result.     The 


1  The  method  of  extorting  confession  described  here  is  only 
one  of  many.  The  same  man  was  subjected  to  many  other 
forms  as  well. 


94  THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

legal  method  of  administering  punishment  to 
Koreans  has  also  differences.  To  illustrate,  one 
of  the  most  primitive  and  disgusting  methods 
of  corporal  punishment  is  systematized  and 
retained  for  the  "benefit"  of  the  Koreans.  A 
prisoner  is  stripped  from  waist  down,  made  to 
lie  prone  upon  a  T-shaped  paraphernalia,  arms 
tied  to  the  horizontal  and  legs  to  the  longi- 
tudinal, and  flogged  on  the  gluteal  region  with 
a  cane  that  has  its  thickness,  length,  and 
weight  prescribed  by  the  law.  During  the 
month  of  March  and  April,  thousands  of  people 
from  all  over  the  country  have  been  made  to 
undergo  this  brutal  and  humiliating  "punish- 
ment" at  the  rate  of  thirty  strokes  for  each 
shout  of  "Mansei."  Those  who  gave  three 
cheers  for  their  country  were  given  ninety 
strokes,  thirty  per  day  for  three  days  con- 
secutively. That  was  because  no  human  being 
could  undergo  the  full  count  in  one  day  with- 
out disastrous  physical  consequences.  Many 
fatalities  have  occurred.  It  is  said,  as  an 
excuse,  that  old  Korea  had  it,  and  therefore 
it  is  retained.  In  the  first  place,  the  Korean 
method  was  not  as  severe  as  the  new.  The 
writer  has  a  personal  knowledge  of  cases  under 
the  old  regime,  where  men  were  given  as 
many  as  one  hundred  strokes  without  having 
the  skin  torn.     Under  this  innovated  method 


JAPANESE  ADMINISTRATION        95 

the  skin  and  flesh  become  a  pulp  before  thirty 
are  counted.  Furthermore,  was  it  not  that 
because  of  just  such  barbarities  of  the  old 
Korean  officialdom,  Japan  claimed  the  right 
to  step  in  and  "clean  up"?  Japan  posed  and 
still  poses  as  the  torch-bearer  of  civilization  in 
the  Orient,  and  yet  the  militaristic  rule  has 
given  new  sanction  and  increased  the  horrors 
of  such  barbarities.  Time  and  again  it  is 
claimed  that  Koreans  are  living  under  par- 
ticular social  conditions,  and  that  therefore 
they  must  be  treated  in  these  particular  man- 
ners. Assuming  that  the  conditions  are  par- 
ticular, if  that  is  to  be  taken  as  an  excuse  for 
these  particularly  barbarous  manners  of  treat- 
ment, is  not  that  tantamount  to  a  confession 
that  the  Japanese  militarists  are  no  better 
than  the  Korean  yangbans?  And  does  not 
that  confute  either  the  claim  of  the  bureaucrats 
for  their  efficiency,  or  their  declaration  of  their 
altruism,  or  both? 

3.  Police  Summary  Judgment.  The  police  and 
gendarmes  play  such  a  powerful  role  in  the 
affairs  of  Korea  and  upon  the  life  of  the  people 
that  they  must  be  discussed  under  a  separate 
heading;  but  since  they  are  empowered  to 
exercise  a  very  extensive  measure  of  judiciary 
function,  they  are  briefly  described  here.  To 
quote  from  the  official  Annual  Report: 


96  THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

"In  the  Peninsula,  minor  offenses  relating  to 
gambling,  bodily  harm,  etc.,  or  to  a  violation 
of  administrative  ordinances,"  (Peace  Preserva- 
tion Laws  included)  "which  would  ordinarily 
come  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  lowest 
court,  are  adjudicated  by  the  police  instead  of 
by  ordinary  judicial  procedure.  .  .  . 

"The  total  number  of  criminal  cases  de- 
cided during  the  year  1916  by  the  police 
summary  judgment  reached  56,013,  involving 
82,121  offenders,  being  an  increase  of  14,777  cases 
and  21,750  offenders  over  those  of  the  preceding 
year.  Of  the  persons  implicated  in  these  cases, 
81,139  were  sentenced,  30  proved  their  innocence,1 
and  the  remaining  952  were  pardoned." 

In  the  statement  quoted  above,  the  follow- 
ing points  are  to  be  noted: 

First.  The  police,  in  addition  to  the  regular 
function  of  prevention  and  arrest  of  crimes, 
have  the  power  to  adjudicate — to  sentence 
prisoners  to  fine,  flogging,  imprisonment,  and 
exile.  A  political  suspect,  against  whom 
nothing  can  be  proven,  is  often  banished  to 
some  inaccessible  island,  as  it  was  the  case 
with  the  Christian  pastor  referred  to  above. 

Second.  The  "administrative  ordinances"  re- 
ferred to  include  such  ordinances  as  that  which 

1  Italics  are  mine.     It  must  be  noted  that  the  burden  of 
proof  is  upon  the  accused. 


JAPANESE  ADMINISTRATION        97 

was  promulgated  by  the  Governor-General  on 
April  15,  1919.  The  number  of  people  sen- 
tenced during  1916  shows  the  far-reaching  scope 
of  these  ordinances. 

Third.  The  fact  that  out  of  82,121  persons 
only  30  proved  their  innocence  leads  the  ob- 
server to  one  of  two  conclusions:  that  either 
the  Japanese  police  in  Korea  are  so  superior 
to  those  of  all  other  nations  in  detecting  crime 
that  they  almost  never  run  down  any  but  the 
actual  criminals,  or,  the  Koreans,  when  they 
get  into  the  meshes  of  the  police  and  gen- 
darme-interpreted ordinances,  find  it  next  to 
impossible  to  prove  their  innocence. 

4.  Law  Courts.  To  quote  again  from  the 
same  official  report:  "Along  with  the  develop- 
ment of  the  idea  of  rights  among  Koreans  who 
seek  protection  under  the  law,  and  with  progress 
in  the  police  system  which  enables  a  careful 
search  to  be  made  for  criminals,  judicial  cases, 
both  civil  and  criminal,  are  yearly  on  the  in- 
crease, as  shown  in  the  following  table":1 
Year  Civil  Cases      Criminal  Cases 


1912 

Received 

40,722 

13,695 

1913 

M 

41,970 

17,294 

1914 

it 

40,307 

18,125 

1915 

U 

39,695 

20,420 

1916 

« 

37,834 

24,282 

1  Abridged.     The  number  of  decisions  of  the  courts  of  1st, 
2d,  and  3rd  instances  has  been  omitted. 


98  THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

But  it  is  curious  that  the  table  of  statistics 
does  not  bear  out  the  explanatory  statement. 
It  shows  that  the  civil  cases  have  been  on 
the  steady  decrease,  excepting  the  one  year 
of  1913.  What  does  the  fact  of  decrease  in 
the  civil  cases  and  increase  in  the  criminal 
cases  signify  in  the  light  of  this  official  explana- 
tion? Would  not  the  clarified  facts  necessitate 
a  different  interpretation,  namely,  that  "along 
with  the  development  of  the  idea  of  rights 
among  Koreans  who  seek  protection  under  the 
law,"  the  civil  cases  are  yearly  on  the  de- 
crease? "and  with  progress  in  the  police  sys- 
tem which  enables  a  careful  search  to  be 
made  for  criminals,"  the  criminal  cases  "are 
yearly  on  the  increase"?  It  is  often  asserted 
that  a  civil  suit,  in  which  a  Japanese  is  de- 
fendant, is  both  a  costly  and  unsatisfactory 
affair. 


CHAPTER  V 

JAPANESE  ADMINISTRATION 

(continued) 
Education 

A  great  deal  has  been  said  during  the 
past  years  concerning  the  system  of  education 
inaugurated  under  the  new  regime.  It  is 
frequently  assumed  that  under  the  old  Korean 
government  education  was  never  fostered  and 
held  without  value.  Nothing  is  further  from 
facts  than  this  assumption.  Incredible  as  it 
may  sound  to  some,  Korea  accorded  educa- 
tion a  place  of  far  greater  importance  than 
it  is  done  now.  From  the  very  olden  times 
Korea  had  the  Ministry  of  State  for  Education, 
equal  in  rank  with  all  other  ministries  in  the 
Cabinet.  To  be  honored  by  an  appointment  to 
that  post  has  always  been  a  recognition  to 
which  all  men  aspired,  excepting  the  prime 
minister  and  possibly  the  ministers  of  interior 
and  treasury.  This  veneration  of  education, 
carried  to  excess  and  at  too  great  an  expense 
of  military  preparedness,  accounts  for  her 
misfortune  more  than  any  other  single  factor. 

1.  Place  of  Education  under  New  Regime. 
When  the  Japanese  militarists  came  into  power 

99 


100         THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

in  Korea  they  immediately  reduced  the  De- 
partment of  Education  to  a  Bureau  and  placed 
it  undei  the  Department  of  Internal  Affairs. 
The  director  of  the  Bureau  of  Education  is  a 
subordinate  officer  to  the  director  of  internal 
affairs.  Not  content  with  this  reduction,  there 
was  a  talk  of  abolishing  even  the  Bureau  and 
retaining  only  the  Section  of  Education.  About 
two  years  ago,  when  the  then  incumbent  of 
that  office  was  transferred  to  another  office 
in  the  government-general  and  ordered  to  retain 
the  post  only  as  an  additional  duty,  it  produced 
an  apprehension  that  that  was  done  with  the 
view  to  the  final  abolition. 

2.  Expenditures  in  Education.  This  reduc- 
tion of  the  educational  office  would  not  have 
been  of  such  a  serious  significance,  were  it 
not  associated  with  other  facts  that  unmis- 
takably led  the  observer's  mind  to  a  certain 
conclusion.  According  to  the  latest  official  re- 
port, the  amount  of  money  allotted  for  educa- 
tion under  the  head  of  Ordinary  Expenditure 
for  1917  was  $306,165.50,  while  the  same  for 
police  was  $1,557,447,  and  for  Law  Courts 
and  Prisons,  $1,373,088.  In  other  words,  for 
Law  Courts  and  Prisons  about  four  and  half 
times  as  much,  and  for  police  more  than  five 
times  as  much  as  for  education  is  expended. 
Under  the  Extraordinary  Expenditure  for  the 


JAPANESE  ADMINISTRATION      T01 

same  year,  even  though  the  amounts  for  the 
education  and  police  do  not  maintain  the 
same  discrepancy,  the  allotment  for  the  latter 
is  still  larger  than  that  for  the  former.  The 
Extraordinary  Expenditure  includes  such  items 
as  subsidies  to  the  primary  and  industrial 
schools,  erection  of  school  buildings  and  hostels, 
etc.,  of  more  or  less  incidental  and  temporary 
nature,  and  the  Ordinary  Expenditure  includes 
the  running  expenses  of  government  schools, 
compilation  and  publication  of  textbooks,  build- 
ing repairs,  etc.,  which  are  of  regular  yearly 
occurrence.  It  is  highly  interesting  to  study 
the  ordinary  budget  in  detail,  because  there 
the  educational  policy  of  the  government  is 
manifest.  The  itemized  budget  of  the  year 
1916  is  the  latest  available,  and  here  follows: 

Ordinary  Expenditure 

Schools $233,959.00 

Text-Books 48,323.00 

Students  sent  to  Japan 11,294.00 

Lectures 3,499.50 

Building  Repairs 3,470.00 

$300,545.50 

The  first  item  of  $233,959  may  easily  be  under- 
stood to  mean  for  the  government  schools  for 
Koreans,  but  that  was  not  quite  the  case,  for 
about  forty  per  cent  of  that  goes  to  the  schools 


1,Q&  V  1REJE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

for  the  Japanese  youths.    The  following  table, 
based  upon  the  Annual  Report,  explains  itself: 

Ordinary  Expenditure  for  Government  Schools 
(1916) 

5  Korean  Secondary  Schools $101,300.50 

1  Korean  Special  School 10,400.00 

Total  Korean  Schools $111,700.50 

3  Japanese  Secondary  Schools 68,914.50 

1  Mixed  Medical  College 14,748.50 

1  Mixed  Technical  College 39,058.00 

Total  Mixed  Schools 53,806.50 

Grand  Total  for  AH  Schools $234,421.50 

The  amount  actually  spent  as  shown  in  the 
above  seems  to  have  exceeded  the  original 
estimate.  Since  both  the  medical  and  tech- 
nical colleges  admit  the  students  of  two 
peoples,  if  the  expenditures  are  divided  into 
two  equal  parts  and  added  to  each  of  the  two, 
it  will  show  that  the  amount  for  the  Japanese 
schools  in  Korea  is  about  forty  per  cent  of  that 
for  the  Korean.  This,  viewed  in  connection 
with  the  fact  that  the  population  of  Koreans 
by  official  count  is  16,309,179,  and  that  of 
Japanese  is  320,938,  is  all  the  more  significant; 
but  this  phase  of  the  question  will  be  dis- 
cussed more  fully  later. 

It  should  be  noted  that  the  foregoing  has  to 
do  with  what  are  called  "government"  schools. 
The  government,  that  is,  the  central  govern- 


JAPANESE  ADMINISTRATION      103 

ment,  maintains  only  the  secondary  and  higher 
schools.  Schools  of  primary  grade  are  main- 
tained by  the  local  government  and  are  called 
the  "public"  schools.  The  central  government 
gives  subsidies  to  the  public  schools  wherever 
needed  and  keeps  general  supervision  over 
them.  The  subsidies  come  from  the  Extraor- 
dinary Budget  as  stated  above.  In  1916,  the 
amount  of  subsidies  granted  to  the  Korean 
public  schools  was  $296,338,  and  that  to  the 
Japanese  public  schools  was  $171,040.1 

3.  Number  and  Kind  of  Schools.  Concerning 
the  number  of  the  government  and  public 
schools,  the  following  tables  will  be  of  interest: 

Government  and  Public  Schools  for  Koreans 
(End  of  March,  1916) 

schol-     applica- 
ktnd  of  school  number       ars  tions 

Public  Common  Schools 426         65,654        

Government  Higher  Common 

Schools 3  1,111         2,561 

Government     Girls'     Higher 

Common  Schools 2  323  187 

Government  Special  School .  .         1  128  383 
Government  College  of  Med- 
icine          1              204            261 

Government  College  of  Tech- 
nology           1  107  200 

Industrial  Schools 18  1,504         2,114 

Elementary  Industrial 

Schools.. 72  1,449         

xIt  should  be  explained  that  there  are  two  government 
primary  schools  in  the  country,  but  they  are  schools  attached 
to  the  teacher  training  courses  for  model  teaching. 


104?         THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

elementary  industrial  schools  are  run  in  conjunction  with 
and  in  the  common  schools,  so  they  can  hardly  be  con- 
sidered as  separate  institutions  except  in  the  technical 


Government  and  Public  Schools  for  Japanese 
(March,  1916) 

kind  of  schools  schol-     applica- 

number  ars         tions 

Elementary  Schools 324  34,148        

Middle  Schools 3  1,138         1,425 

Girls'  High  Schools 9  1,381            648 

Commercial  Schools 2  462  (-)       220 

Elementary  Commercial 

School 3  222        

College  of  Medicine 1  25        

College  of  Technology 1  91        

The  figure  includes  that  of  a  private  commercial  school. 

These  tables  show  us  that  426  primary 
schools  distributed  among  16,309,179  Koreans 
give  one  school  for  every  38,284  inhabitants, 
while  324  primary  schools  for  320,938  Japanese 
give  one  school  for  every  987  settlers.  Then, 
again,  the  number  of  scholars  these  schools 
together  are  capable  of  receiving  and  caring 
for,  in  comparison  with  the  population  of  each 
people,  is  worth  considering.  The  65,654 
Korean  children  that  are  able  to  find  accommo- 
dation in  these  schools  represent  one  to  two 
hundred  and  fifty  of  the  Korean  population, 
while  the  34,143  Japanese  children  in  their 
schools  represent  more  than  one  to  ten  of  the 
total  number  of  Japanese  settlers  in  Korea, 


JAPANESE  ADMINISTRATION      105 

In  this  connection,  it  may  not  be  out  of 
place  to  quote  a  passage  from  the  United 
States  Congressional  Record,  for  July  17,  1919. 
On  page  2863  it  says:  "This  does  not  mean 
that  the  Koreans  are  unwilling  to  educate 
their  boys.  The  Governor-General  reports  the 
existence  of  no  fewer  than  21,800  old -type 
village  schools,  which  must  provide  the  ele- 
ments of  education  to  some  500,000  boys. 
To  this  must  be  added  the  22,542  children 
attending  Christian  schools."  The  status  of 
the  Christian  schools  and  other  "private" 
schools  will  be  discussed  later. 

4.  Educational  Standard.  It  will  have  been 
noted  in  the  foregoing  that  the  names  used 
to  designate  the  primary  and  secondary  educa- 
tion of  Koreans  and  Japanese  are  not  the 
same.  For  the  former,  "common  schools"  and 
"higher  common  schools"  are  used;  and  for 
the  latter,  "elementary  schools"  and  "middle 
schools"  are  used.  This  is  because  the  sys- 
tems for  the  education  of  the  two  peoples  are 
different.  The  long  and  short  of  the  two  sys- 
tems can  be  seen  from  the  following: 

School  System  for  Koreans 

Common  School 4    or     3  Years 

Higher  Common  School 4  and    3  Years   (for  Girls) 

Special  School  or  College ....     3    to     4  Years 

Total  for  Boys 10   to   12  Years 

Total  for  Girls 6   or     7  Years 


106         THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

School  System  for  Japanese 
Elementary  School,  5  or  6  Years.     Special    School 

Middle  School 5  Years.         or       Profes- 

Higher  School 3  Years.        sional      Col- 
University  3  Years.        lege,  4  Years 

University  Hall  (Grad.)  %  Years.     Total  (College) 

14  or  15  Years. 


Total  (University),  16 
or  19  Years. 

Concerning  the  school  system  for  Japanese, 
nothing  much  needs  to  be  said,  because  it  is 
identical  with  the  one  in  force  in  Japan.  From 
the  elementary  school  to  the  completion  of 
one  of  the  professional  colleges,  it  takes  a  boy 
from  fourteen  to  fifteen  years.  To  finish  a 
course  in  one  of  the  Imperial  universities  a 
Japanese  youth  gets  sixteen  or  seventeen  years' 
training  with  a  provision  for  a  postgraduate 
work  in  the  University  Hall  that  takes  from 
two  to  three  years  more. 

When  it  comes  to  the  school  system  for 
Koreans  it  needs  some  elucidation.  To  quote 
from  the  official  Report:  "The  school  age  for 
Koreans  being  eight,  is  two  years  later  than 
that  for  Japanese.  The  period  of  study  for 
common  school  is  four  years,  but  it  may  be 
shortened  to  three  years  according  to  local 
conditions."  It  should  be  noted  that  the  same 
for  the  corresponding  school  for  Japanese  is 


JAPANESE  ADMINISTRATION      107 

six  years.  To  quote  further:  "The  higher 
common  school  gives  a  liberal  education  to 
Korean  boys  of  not  less  than  twelve  years  of 
age  for  a  period  of  four  years."  The  corre- 
sponding Japanese  middle  school  requires  five 
years.  This  shows  that  while  eleven  years  are 
provided  for  the  Japanese  youths  for  primary 
and  secondary  education,  only  eight  years  are 
allowed  the  Korean  youths;  and  the  law  says 
that  that  may  still  be  lowered  to  seven  years, 
while  no  extension  whatsoever  can  be  lawfully 
be  made  under  any  circumstance.  After  the 
common  and  higher  common  schools  comes 
either  the  Seoul  Special  School,  where  the 
rudiments  of  law  and  economics  are  taught, 
or  one  of  the  two  professional  schools.  The 
educational  system  ends  there,  as  far  as  the 
government  provisions  in  the  land  are  con- 
cerned. 

The  sons  of  well-to-do  people  and  a  few 
who  are  selected  by  the  government  go  to 
Japan  to  further  their  preparations  for  life, 
but  there  they  are  greatly  handicapped,  be- 
cause the  only  system  that  was  accessible  to 
them  does  not  articulate  with  the  system  they 
are  entering  into.  Even  if  he  were  able  to 
take  the  entrance  examination  and  qualified 
himself,  he  is  given  only  a  certificate  when  he 
completes  the  course,  for  the  reason  that  he 


108  THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

does  not  hold  the  diploma  from  the  next  lower 
school  in  the  same  system.  It  goes  without 
saying  that  the  holder  of  a  certificate  does 
not  enjoy  any  of  the  privileges  that  a  regular 
diploma  carries. 

5.  School  Curricula.  A  detailed  and  extensive 
discussion  is  impossible  without  violating  the 
sense  of  proportion  in  this  brief  survey.  There- 
fore only  certain  indications  are  made  as 
follows: 

(1)  Common  School: 
First  2  Years: 

Entire  Curriculum,   26  hours  per  week,  (of  which) 
Japanese  Language,  10  hours  per  week. 

Last  2  Years: 

Entire  Curriculum,   27  hours  per  week,  (of  which) 
Japanese  Language,  10  hours  per  week. 

(2)  Higher  Common  School: 
First  2  Years: 

Entire  Curriculum,   30  hours  per  week,  (of  which) 
Japanese  Language,    8  hours  per  week. 

Last  2  Years: 
Entire  Curriculum,   30  hours  (32,  if  English  is  taken) 
Japanese  Language,    7  hours  per  week. 

Throughout  8  Years: 

Japanese  Geography,  2  hours  per  week  for  1  year. 
Japanese  History,        2  hours  per  week  for  1  year. 
Foreign  Geography,    1  hour  per  week  for  1  year. 
Foreign  History,  1  hour  per  week  for  1  year. 


JAPANESE  ADMINISTRATION      109 

From  the  above  it  is  evident  that  after  the 
time  required  for  studying  the  Japanese  lan- 
guage is  subtracted  there  are  not  very  many 
hours  left  to  be  divided  among  Morals,  Korean 
Language,  Chinese  Literature,  Mathematics, 
Nature  Study,  Singing,  Physical  Exercises, 
Drawing,  Manual  Work,  Sewing  and  Handi- 
craft, Elementary  Agriculture,  Elementary 
Commerce,  History,  Geography,  Natural  Sci- 
ence, Industry,  Law  and  Economics,  Caligraphy 
and  (optional)  English.  It  has  been  sug- 
gested, incidentally,  that  these  curricula  are 
probably  the  highest  unintentional  compliment 
the  educationists  of  Japan  pay  upon  the 
extraordinary  ability  of  the  sons  and  daughters 
of  the  "Land  of  Morning  Calm." 

6.  Private  Schools.  The  official  Report  for 
1911-12,  the  fiscal  year  immediately  following 
the  Union,  had  this  to  say:  "According  to 
the  new  regulations,  private  schools  must  ob- 
tain recognition  of  the  Governor-General,  and 
should  use  textbooks  compiled  by  the  Govern- 
ment-General, or  those  examined  and  approved 
by  the  Governor-General,  if  they  are  compiled 
by  any  other  than  the  Government-General." 
Private  schools  as  well  as  public  schools  must 
use  the  curricula  fixed  by  the  government- 
general,  and  in  no  case  are  they  permitted  to 
be  modified.    It  is  also  insisted  that  all  lessons, 


110         THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

excepting  foreign  languages  (English)  and  liter- 
ature (Chinese)  must  be  taught  in  Japanese. 
To  continue  with  the  quotation,  "a  private 
school  will  be  compulsorily  closed  should  the 
school  violate  the  provisions  of  laws  and 
ordinances,  should  its  work  be  considered  in- 
jurious to  peace  and  order,  or  to  the  public 
morals,  or  should  it  disobey  the  order  given 
regarding  the  correction  of  above  mentioned 
matters.  .  .  . 

"Several  years  ago  the  establishment  of 
private  schools  became  popular  among  the 
Koreans,  so  that  one  time  there  were  more 
than  two  thousand  private  schools  in  the 
Peninsula.  .  . .  By  the  end  of  the  fiscal  year 
1911,  the  number  of  private  schools,  except 
those  on  the  same  level  as  common  schools 
or  industrial  schools,  had  decreased  to  about 
1,700."  During  the  five  years  following  more 
than  700  of  these  schools  were  closed.  Thus 
the  Report  for  1916-17  says:  "The  total 
number  of  private  schools  at  the  end  of  the 
fiscal  year  1916  was  970,  and  that  of  their 
pupils  53,000.  Of  these,  578  schools  with  a 
roll  of  31,000  pupils  were  secular,  and  392 
schools  with  22,000  pupils  were  religious." 

These  constant  and  rapid  decreases  are  very 
significant,  and  the  causes  may  deserve  con- 
sideration.    First,  it  is  often  stated  that  "on 


JAPANESE  ADMINISTRATION      111 

account  of  financial  difficulty,"  the  number 
closed  during  such  and  such  year  reach  so 
many.  True,  the  people  are  poor,  but  if  they 
have  been  enjoying  material  prosperity  as  they 
are  declared  to  have  been,  and  if  they  were 
getting  enlightened  through  the  marvelous  in- 
fluence of  this  modern  education,  the  tendency 
should  have  been  on  the  increase.  No  one 
can  reasonably  assume  that  the  Koreans  by 
nature  do  not  care  for  schools,  because  the 
official  Report  says  specifically  that  the  estab- 
lishment of  private  schools  was  "popular 
among  the  Koreans."  If  they  were  interested 
in  establishing  schools,  they  would  be  also 
interested  in  maintaining  them,  if  other  things 
were  equal.  Second,  it  is  stated  that  these 
schools  were  not  up  to  the  standard  in  the 
way  of  equipment,  teaching  staff,  etc.  True, 
they  were  far  from  what  they  ought  to  be, 
but  is  it  not  at  all  conceivable  that  a  school  of 
limited  facilities  is  better  than  no  school, 
especially  in  view  of  the  fact,  that  the  govern- 
ment, as  it  is  authoritatively  stated,  is  not 
yet  financially  able  to  establish  schools  with 
any  degree  of  rapidity?  Then,  again,  what  is 
the  core  of  the  standard?  Is  it  not  principally 
the  proficiency  in  the  Japanese  language  rather 
than  anything  else?  A  scholar  in  history  or 
science,  no  matter  how  proficient  he  is  in  his 


11&         THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

knowledge,  unless  he  can  speak  Japanese,  is 
disqualified.  Further  than  that,  can  there  be 
a  shadow  of  doubt  that  the  valuation  of  a 
teaching  staff  of  a  given  school  is  based  upon 
the  number  of  Japanese  teachers  on  it?  (They 
require  nearly  twice  as  high  salaries  as  the 
Koreans.)  Still  further  than  that,  does  not 
the  government  insist  that  the  head-teacher 
of  a  given  school  should  be  a  Japanese?  and  is 
it  not  true  that  a  school  is  found  fault  with  as 
"inefficient"  until  these  requirements  are  met? 
Third,  the  Koreans  are  told  that  they  have 
nothing  to  do  with  political  affairs.  A  Korean 
is  not  to  discuss  politics  and  is  not  to  write 
politics.  In  the  same  breath  he  is  told  that 
industry  is  what  he  wants.  He  should'  be 
thrifty,  he  should  eat  beans  and  coarse  rice, 
and  export  the  best  rice  to  some  other  land. 
A  good  part  of  this  preachment  is  quite  whole- 
some if  it  were  not  of  certain  inevitable  im- 
plications. All  these  things,  with  the  general 
atmosphere  of  the  whole  situation,  have  worked 
as  discouraging  influences  upon  the  promoters 
and  supporters  of  the  schools. 

7.  Educational  Ideal  and  Aim.  The  aim  of 
education  for  Koreans  is  set  forth  in  Articles 
II  and  III  of  the  "Imperial  Ordinance  No. 
229,"  promulgated  on  August  23,  1911.  "The 
essential  principle  of  education  in  Chosen  shall 


JAPANESE  ADMINISTRATION      113 

be  the  making  of  loyal  and  good  subjects," 
and  it  "shall  be  adapted  to  the  needs  of  the 
times  and  the  condition  of  the  people." 

In  order  to  understand  properly  the  meaning 
of  these  Articles,  one  has  to  look  at  them  from 
the  point  of  view  of  the  Japanese,  whether 
one  is  in  sympathy  with  that  viewpoint  or  no. 
Japan  took  Korea,  and  she  means  to  retain 
her  hold  upon  her;  therefore  her  aim  is  to 
make  "loyal  and  good  subjects"  of  the  Koreans, 
and  her  immediate  modus  operandi  is  to  start 
from  the  actual  "condition  of  the  people," 
considering,  at  the  same  time,  "the  needs  of 
the  times."  That  is  the  most  apparent  mean- 
ing. When  it  comes  to  the  practical  applica- 
tion of  the  Ordinance  by  the  officials,  however, 
the  possibility  of  a  large  amount  of  elasticity 
is  discernible.  "The  condition  of  the  people," 
instead  of  being  used  as  the  starting  point, 
can  be  taken  as  the  landmark;  and  "the  needs 
of  the  times,"  instead  of  being  taken  as  some- 
thing transitional,  leading  up  to  something 
higher  and  better,  can  be  looked  upon  as  a 
fixed  objective.  To  venture  a  pronouncement 
as  to  which  is  the  working  interpretation, 
conscious  or  unconscious,  of  those  who  have 
immediate  charge  of  education  in  Korea 
seems  suggestive  of  a  task  that  is  gratuitous, 
as  the  facts  that  lead  to  visible  results  reveal 


114?         THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

the  truth,  and  the  same  or  altered  facts  will 
most  decisively  confirm  in  the  future  some  of 
the  conclusions  that  may  already  have  been 
formed. 

Police  and  Rights  of  the  People 

As  has  been  already  intimated,  the  police 
and  gendarmes  in  Korea  hold  almost  an  unre- 
stricted power  over  the  everyday  life  of  the 
people.  They  can  trail  and  spy  openly,  search 
both  person  and  domicile,  arrest,  detain,  fine, 
imprison  with  hard  labor,  flog  and  banish 
any  Korean  whom  they  may  deem  it  proper 
and  necessary  to  punish,  at  any  time  with 
impunity.  In  the  single  year  of  1911,  14,443 
were  flogged,  and  1,734  were  subjected  to 
major  fines,  besides  those  upon  whom  other 
punishments  were  inflicted;  and  it  is  reported 
that  over  11,000  have  been  flogged,  in  con- 
nection with  the  independence  agitation,  be- 
tween March  1  and  the  middle  of  July,  1919. 

1.  Organization.  As  it  is  announced  in  the 
Report,  the  police  administration  is  conducted 
by  placing  all  the  police  forces  and  gendarmes 
(military  police)  under  the  same  command 
of  the  commander-in-chief  of  the  Garrison 
Gendarmery.  In  other  words,  the  ordinary 
police,  as  well  as  the  military  police,  are  placed 
under  the  military  direction.    Not  only  is  this 


JAPANESE  ADMINISTRATION      115 

true  with  the  central  organization,  but  all  the 
powers  of  the  chief  of  police  of  each  province 
are  vested  in  the  person  of  the  chief  of  the 
Divisional  Gendarmery,  and  the  individual 
gendarmes  exercise  the  full  police  power  in 
addition  to  their  own. 

In  passing:  one  curious  thing  about  the 
relative  number  of  police  and  gendarmes  since 
the  unification  is  the  increase  of  the  latter,  in 
spite  of  the  belief  the  people  have  been  led  to 
entertain  that  the  military  rule  would  grad- 
ually disappear  as  the  time  went  on.  Thus, 
in  1911  there  were  6,006  police  and  7,749  gen- 
darmes, showing  an  increase  of  292  gendarmes 
while  the  police  decreased  by  385.  Further, 
whereas  the  total  of  the  forces  of  the  two  de- 
creased by  93,  the  number  of  stations  and 
substations  increased  from  1,621  to  1,790, 
showing  an  addition  of  179  during  the  same 
period  of  time.  As  far  as  these  figures  go, 
they  show  the  opposite  tendency  of  what  the 
people  and  the  outside  world  in  general  have 
been  reasonably  expecting. 

2.  "Judicial  Police."  Aside  from  the  police 
summary  judgment,  which  has  already  been 
briefly  dwelt  upon,  there  is  in  the  police  organ 
what  is  termed  the  judicial  police,  which  "is 
a  literal  rendering  of  the  German  'justiz  polizei', 
by  which  certain  police  authorities  are  charged 


116         THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

with  the  duty  of  searching  criminals,  of  in- 
vestigating criminal  evidences  as  a  preparatory 
measure  for  the  preliminary  hearing,  and  other 
quasi  judicial  measures."  (See  the  Annual 
Report  for  1911-12,  p.  41.) 

In  "searching  criminals"  and  in  "investi- 
gating criminal  evidences"  the  governing  prin- 
ciple that  pervades  the  whole  system  manifests 
itself  to  be  to  include  not  only  the  actual 
cases  but  all  potential  cases  as  well;  and  the 
very  efficiency  of  the  system  cannot  exclude 
any  person  from  the  purview.  Consequently, 
every  man,  woman,  and  child  must  be  regis- 
tered, all  movements  that  may  require  any 
length  of  time  must  be  reported,  and  the 
privacy  of  any  household  can  be  entered  when- 
ever it  is  conceived  necessary  "for  the  verify- 
ing of  the  register."  Delicacy  forbids  any 
rehearsal  of  extreme  cases,  but  when  we  con- 
sider that  the  police  are  the  interpreters  and 
executors  of  the  various  laws  and  ordinances, 
and  the  people  have  nowhere  to  seek  redress 
than  the  police  themselves,  it  is  apparent  that 
the  people  are  in  serious  plights. 

3.  Espionage.  Dovetailed  with  the  system 
of  judicial  police  is  the  espionage  branch  of 
the  police,  which  is  called  the  "Higher  Sec- 
tion." This  has  to  do  with  getting  information 
of  all  kinds,  shadowing  and  tracking  people, 


JAPANESE  ADMINISTRATION      117 

and  keeping  minute  record  of  all  individuals 
whom  they  consider  likely  to  have  some  in- 
fluence over  men  and  affairs.  If  anyone  of 
this  character  goes  from  one  city  to  another, 
the  "Higher  Section"  police  follow  in  close 
proximity,  and  not  rarely  keep  an  uninter- 
rupted company  in  an  open  and  "friendly" 
way;  and  if  the  one  followed  is  real  game  and 
good-natured  about  it,  a  good  deal  of  amuse- 
ment can  be  gotten  out  of  the  otherwise  un- 
comfortable situation.  One  can  look  at  the 
man  from  a  detached  and  philosophical  view- 
point. He  is  simply  earning  his  bread  and  but- 
ter for  himself  and  his  poor  family,  and  why 
should  one  have  a  hard  feeling  against  him?  You 
and  he  are  in  a  bad  "fix"  created  by  the  system, 
and  he  is  not  to  blame.  So  the  moral  is  to  make 
the  best  of  the  thing  you  cannot  yet  help. 

4.  Rights  of  Publication.  There  is  not  a 
single  newspaper  or  magazine  as  such  pub- 
lished by  Koreans  in  Korea.  No  permit  is 
given  to  a  Korean.  There  are  two  sets  of 
laws  controlling  publishing  work,  one  on  peri- 
odicals and  another  on  ordinary  publications. 
To  publish  a  periodical  a  certain  sum  of  money 
is  required  to  be  deposited  with  the  police  in 
order  to  meet  the  contingency  of  a  fine,  and 
when  an  issue  is  printed  two  copies  are  required 
to  be  sent  to  the  police  censor.     At  the  time 


118         THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

of  annexation  all  the  papers  owned  and  man- 
aged by  Koreans  were  shut  down.  "At  the, 
end  of  the  fiscal  year  1916  there  were  20  news- 
papers published  in  Chosen,  of  which  18  were 
in  Japanese,  1  in  Korean,  and  1  in  English," 
says  the  Report,  but  they  were  all  Japanese, 
and  three  of  them,  including  the  last  two,  are 
government  organs.  Time  and  again  Koreans 
tried  to  conform  to  the  law  controlling  the 
publishing  of  ordinary  books,  etc.,  which  law 
has  this  difference  from  the  other:  the  man- 
uscript must  be  submitted  to  the  censor,  and 
his  stamp  of  approval  gotten  on  each  page, 
before  printed.  After  printing,  two  copies  are 
also  sent  to  the  censor,  the  same  as  it  is  with 
the  periodical.  Several  tried  to  publish  mag- 
azines under  the  last  provisions,  but  all  failed 
with  heavy  losses  of  money  on  account  of 
the  difficulty  of  getting  the  approval  and  of 
the  irregularity  and  delay  entailed  in  receiving 
back  the  manuscripts,  which  made  it  impossi- 
ble to  maintain  any  semblance  of  periodicity. 

5.  Right  of  Assemblage.  The  Annual  Report 
states  that  "most  of  the  political  associations 
and  similar  bodies  were  ordered  to  dissolve 
themselves  at  the  time  of  annexation,  as  it 
was  deemed  necessary  to  take  such  a  step 
for  the  maintenance  of  peace  and  order.  Since 
then    there    has    been    no    political    party    or 


JAPANESE  ADMINISTRATION      119 

association,  as  such,  among  the  Koreans." 
"The  holding  of  public  meetings  in  connection 
with  political  affairs,  or  the  gathering  of  crowds 
out  of  doors,  was  also  prohibited,  except  open- 
air  religious  gatherings  or  school  excursion 
parties,  permission  for  which  might  be  ob- 
tained of  the  police  authorities."  Political 
affairs  are  referred  to  in  the  above,  but  the 
same  prohibitive  principle  holds  true  regarding 
all  other  gatherings — even  a  field  meet,  in 
which  two  or  more  schools  contemplate  par- 
ticipation. From  the  foregoing  one  gets  the 
impression  that  religious  meetings  are  exempt 
from  the  severe  police  restrictions,  but  the 
facts  are  otherwise.  Even  a  Y.  M.  C.  A. 
meeting  has  to  report  the  date,  hour,  speaker, 
topic  for  discussion,  etc.,  beforehand  for  the 
police  approval.  A  few  years  ago  such  a 
purely  academic  society  as  the  "Law  and 
Economics  Association"  was  given  "advice"  to 
dissolve,  and  who  is  there  that  can  afford  to 
be  heedless  of  such  an  advice? 

The  most  frequent  excuse  is  that,  if  asso- 
ciations and  meetings  are  permitted,  the 
Koreans  would  meddle  in  politics.  What 
valid  reason  is  there  that  a  Korean  must 
never  be  otherwise  than  blind,  dumb,  and  deaf 
to  political  affairs  that  concern  his  own  body 
and   soul?     There   is   nothing   in   the   Treaty 


120         THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

that  brought  the  two  peoples  together  that 
in  any  way  can  be  construed  as  precluding 
Koreans  from  political  participation.  On  the 
other  hand,  the  same  instrument,  by  virtue  of 
which  the  present  regime  came  into  being,  both 
specifically  and  impliedly  provides  for  Koreans 
to  have  share  in  the  public  affairs  of  Japan; 
and  how  can  they  possibly  take  a  real  share 
while  they  are  excluded  from  political  concern- 
ment? Would  it  not,  for  the  sake  of  mutual 
good  of  the  two  peoples,  as  well  as  for  the 
sake  of  expediency,  be  better  to  welcome 
rather  than  to  suppress  and  prohibit  a  whole- 
some and  natural  and  irresistible  development 
of  the  political  life  of  the  Korean  people? 

As  a  summary  on  the  whole  situation,  a 
further  analysis  of  which  is  too  long  to  make, 
a  document  called,  "Some  Reasons  Underlying 
the  Present  Agitation  in  Chosen,"  which  was 
presented  to  "important  Japanese  in  Tokyo" 
by  a  committee  of  foreigners  from  Korea,  is 
here  appended  in  the  hope  that  it  will  make 
clear  to  the  reader  that  these  are  facts  as 
seen  by  disinterested  third  parties  whose  views 
can  be  relied  upon  as  unbiased. 

(Copy) 

May  10,  1919. 

The  following  paper  is  a  condensed  statement  of  what 

appear  to  be  the  most  important  of  the  underlying  causes 


JAPANESE  ADMINISTRATION      121 

of  the  present  agitation  in  Korea.  All  of  the  reasons 
given  have  appeared  in  some  form  or  other  in  declara- 
tions, petitions,  and  bulletins  issued  by  the  Koreans, 
and  so  may  be  taken  as  an  expression  of  Korean  opinion. 
The  statement  contains  only  what  seem  to  some  friends 
of  Japan  and  Korea  to  be  the  most  important  of  the 
causes  involved. 

It  should  be  said  also  that  it  does  not  embody  the 
immediate  causes  of  this  outbreak,  such  as  the  rumors 
in  connection  with  the  work  of  the  Peace  Conference, 
prevalent  ideas  of  "self-determination,"  the  activities  of 
Koreans  abroad,  and  the  death  of  the  ex-Emperor  of 
Korea. 

I.  The  Desire  for  Independence 

It  must  be  remembered  that  the  assimilation  of  an 
alien  race  is  a  difficult  task  at  best,  and  that  in  this  case 
it  is  made  more  difficult  by  the  fact  that  the  Koreans 
as  a  people  never  in  their  hearts  have  been  reconciled 
to  annexation. 

II.  The  Rigor  of  the  Military  Administration 
Koreans  do  not  know  what  it  would  be  like  to  be 
under  a  civil  administration.     Their  whole  idea  of  the 
Imperial   Government   is   drawn   from   their   experience 
of  military  rule. 

1.  The  fact  that  the  police  have  gendarmes  and  sol- 
diers associated  with  them  in  the  administration  of 
law  leads  the  Korean  to  fear  the  police  and  to  regard 
them  not  as  civil  servants  and  protectors  but  as  oppressors. 

2.  This    impression    is    deepened    by    the   harsh    and  \ 
indiscriminate  manner  in  which  laws  are  administered.  \ 
In  the  report  issued  by  the  government-general  in  July, 
1918  (covering  the  year  1916-17),  it  is  stated  that  out 
of  82,121  offenders  dealt  with  in  "police  summary  judg- 


>\ 


122         THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

ment,"  952  were  pardoned,  81,139  were  sentenced,  and 
only  30  were  able  to  prove  their  innocence.     The  un- 

^  avoidable  result  of  such  a  system  is  that  a  naturally 
peaceful  and  gentle-minded  people  are  living  in  a  state 
of  constant  terror. 

3.  The  spy  system  has  added  to  the  terrorization  of 
I  the  people.     Spies,  usually  low-class  Koreans,  are  every- 
where.    No  one  knows  when  nor  in  what  form  the  most 
harmless  acts  or  words  may  be  reported  to  the  authorities. 

4.  The  treatment  of  those  arrested  adds  to  the  fear 
and  hatred  of  the  police. 

5.  The  show  of  force  on  all  occasions  adds  to  the 
irritation.  Civil  officials,  even  primary  school-teachers* 
wear  swords. 

/  6.  This  system  has  brought  the  people  to  believe 
/  that  the  administration  has  no  idea  of  leading  them, 
I   but  only  of  compelling  obedience. 

III.  Denationalization 

1.  The  Koreans  are  a  different  race,  with  different 
history,    traditions,    ideals,    ethics,    and    customs.     The 

?  present  administration  seems  to  aim  at  the  elimination 
|  of  many  things  traditionally  Korean  and  the  substitution 
■  of  things  new  and  strange.  There  seems  to  be  no  sys- 
tematic attempt  to  win  the  Korean's  loyalty  for  Japan 
but  to  make  over  the  Korean  into  a  Japanese. 

2.  The  exclusion  of  the  Korean  language  from  schools, 
courts,  and  legal  documents  is  a  great  source  of  irrita 
tion.  It  is  recognized  that  the  question  of  language 
presents  a  problem  to  the  government,  but  the  effect 
of  the  present  policy  on  the  mind  of  the  Korean  cannot 
be  minimized. 

3.  The  elimination  of  Korean  history  from  school 
curricula  is  another  source  of  irritation.  The  Koreans 
feel  that  the  presentation  of  the  subject  of  Korean  his- 


JAPANESE  ADMINISTRATION      123 

tory  is  neither  as  full  nor  as  accurate  as  its  importance 
would  warrant. 

IV.  The  Koreans  have  no  real  share  in  their  govern- 
ment, either  legislative  or  executive,  and  no  hope  of 
securing  this  has  been  held  out  to  them. 

1.  Some  Koreans  do  hold  office,  but  usually  minor 
ones,  and  in  the  case  of  those  holding  an  important  office 
they  usually  can  be  overruled  by  Japanese  officials  of 
lower  rank. 

2.  The  inferior  education  given  to  the  Korean  stu- 
dents deprives  them  of  the  hope  of  securing  positions 

by  competitive  merit  in  the  future. 

V.  Discrimination  Against  Koreans 

1.  There  is  discrimination  in  salaries  for  the  same 
services  in  Government  institutions,  in  business  houses, 
and  in  labor. 

2.  In  Government  schools  the  curriculum  is  different 
for  Japanese  and  Koreans.  The  latter  have  from  two 
to  three  years  shorter  course  than  the  former.  In  the 
matter  of  JEm^lish  also,  which  all  desire  to  learn,  the 
Japanese  have  four  days  a  week  for  five  years,  while  the 
Koreans  have  only  two  hours  a  week  for  two  years.  Such 
differences  in  educational  facilities  may  be  accounted 
for  by  the  Government's  inability  to  provide  full  courses 
as  yet,  but  it  works  an  evident  hardship  and  is  resented 
by  the  Koreans. 

3.  Corporal  punishment  can  be  legally  administrated 
only  to  Koreans. 

4.  There  is  discrimination  in  many  apparently  minor 
but  really  significant  matters.  For  instance,  Koreans  are 
rarely  employed  as  train  boys  or  akabos,  and  Japanese 
rickisha  men  are  given  the  best  positions  at  railway 
stations. 


124  THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

VI.  No  Liberty  of  Speech,  Press,  or  Assembly 
(Christian   Koreans   were   arrested   who   were   heard 

praying  for  a  spiritual  revival,  the  authorities  insisting 

that  this  meant  a  political  revival.) 

VII.  Limited  Religious  Liberty 
/\.  Religion  cannot  be  taught  in  private  schools  ac- 
cording to  the  government  revised  educational  ordinances, 
/  which  recognize  no  difference  between  government  and 
V^  private  schools. 

2.  In  the  case  of  Christianity,  the  Bible  cannot  be 
taught  in  private  schools  opened  since  March,  1915, 
or  in  any  schools  after  1925. 

3.  Ceremonies  are  required  which  seem  to  be  a  viola- 
tion of  conscience  to  Koreans. 

4.  Local  officials  constantly  intimidate  Christians  and 
those  intending  to  become  Christians,  in  what  appears 
to  be  an  effort  to  discourage  Christianity. 

VIII.  Practical  Prohibition  of  Korean  Study 
and  Travel  Abroad 

1.  Koreans  know  that  Japan's  progress  is  largely 
traceable  to  foreign  studies  at  the  beginning  of  the  Meiji 
Era  and  since,  and  desire  the  same  opportunity  for  im- 
provement. With  the  exception  of  certain  specially 
favored  cases,  Koreans  are  not  permitted  to  go  abroad, 
and  those  who  have  received  their  education  abroad 
are  not  permitted  to  return. 

2.  Even  Koreans  who  have  been  educated  in  Japan 
are  so  constantly  watched  by  the  police  on  their  return 
to  Korea  that  they  can  make  no  proper  use  of  their  edu- 
cation. 

IX.  Expropriation  of  Crown  Lands 

In  many  sections  of  Korea  crown  lands  have  been 
occupied  and  farmed  by  the  Koreans  for  generations  on 


JAPANESE  ADMINISTRATION      125 


\ 


the  basis  of  a  moderate  rental.  In  many  cases  the  lease- 
hold of  these  lands  had  acquired  a  value  almost  equal 
to  that  of  land  held  in  full  possession.  These  lands, 
however,  were  in  many  cases  turned  over  to  the  Oriental 
Development  Company,  and  the  former  occupants  re- 
quired to  pay  greatly  increased  rents,  which  compelled 
them  to  abandon  the  land  in  favor  of  Government-assisted 
Japanese  settlers. 

X.  Demoralizing  Influences  Newly  Iintroduced 

1.  Licensed  prostitution  in  all  cities  and  towns  has  made 
this  form  of  immorality  more  open  and  accessible,  and  hence 
has  had  a  more  demoralizing  effect  as  well  as  a  more  wide- 
spread influence  upon  the  young  men  of  the  country. 

2.  The  persistent  sale  of  the  morphine  needle  has  been  // 
unrestricted  in  many  sections. 

XI.  Forced  Migration  to  Manchuria 
The  extensive  migration  of  Japanese  farmers  into 
central  and  southern  Korea  and  their  occupation  of 
often  unjustly  secured  lands  has  forced  the  migration  of 
thousands  of  Koreans  into  the  less  desirable  and  unde- 
veloped sections  of  Manchuria. 

XII.  Many  Improvements  Benefit  Japanese 
More  than  Koreans 

1.  Industrial,  e.  g.:    The  lumber  industry,  although-" 
extensively   developed,   brings   no   additional   benefit   to 
the  Koreans.     In  fact,  lumber  costs  more  than  formerly. 

2.  Commercial:  The  Korean  merchants  lack  modern 
business  training  and  experience,  which  makes  it  difficult 
for  them  to  withstand  the  unrestricted  competition  of 
Japanese  merchants. 

3.  In    many    cases    licensed    monopolies    work    great  ^ 
hardship  to  the  Koreans  and  cause  resentment;  e.  g.,  the 
cotton  monopoly  and  the  fertilizer  monopoly  in  Sen  Sen.  ^ 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE  RISE  OF  DEMOCRATIC  SPIRIT 

It  would  be  stating  only  a  part  of  the  truth, 
however  large  a  part  that  may  be,  to  say 
that  the  character  of  the  Japanese  adminis- 
tration is  the  sole  cause  of  the  Korean  up- 
rising. Man's  desire  to  govern  himself  is  an 
inevitable,  irresistible,  and  innate  nature.  It 
is  a  part  of  his  being,  and  in  that  sense  it  is 
beyond  his  control  or  responsibility. 

There  was  a  very  touching  scene  before  the 
writer's  own  eyes  some  two  and  half  decades 
ago,  which  impressed  him  so  strongly  that 
the  vivid  picture  remains  with  him  always. 
It  was  in  the  year  1894,  immediately  after  the 
promulgation  of  the  emancipation  law  by  the 
reform  government  of  Korea.  Up  to  that  time 
there  were  many  slaves  belonging  to  the  fam- 
ily. Some  of  them  had  been  slaves  for  over 
four  generations.  In  the  main  they  were  all 
well  treated.  Supplying  of  their  bodily  needs 
did  not  worry  them.  They  were  fed,  clothed, 
and  sheltered  by  the  master.  Further,  being 
slaves  to  a  respectable  family,  they  could 
exercise  a  certain  amount  of  influence  upon 
the  common  people  in  the  neighborhood.    Yet, 

126 


• 


RISE  OF  DEMOCRATIC  SPIRIT     127 

one  early  morning  the  following  soul-stirring 
act  was  performed  by  a  slave. 

A  trim-looking  woman,  not  quite  middle- 
aged,  approached  the  outer  quarter  of  the 
house  where  the  master  was.  With  due  show 
of  respect  and  modesty,  she  went  and  stood 
before  him.  He,  looking  up,  said,  "What  is 
it?"  She  hesitated  a  little  and  in  a  faltering 
voice  replied,  "Please,  sir,  give  me  the  title- 
deed  of  my  little  daughter."  He  produced  a 
paper,  yellow  with  age,  and  handed  to  her, 
expressing  his  regret  at  breaking  the  bond 
which  had  been  in  existence  for  so  many 
generations.  She  received  the  paper  politely, 
and  with  tears  streaming  down  her  cheeks 
said:  "Your  slave  has  served  your  Honor's 
family  for  over  four  generations,  and  has  been 
privileged  to  receive  many  bounties,  but  has 
always  longed  to  make  this  little  daughter  of 
mine  free.  This  is  the  God-given  opportunity, 
for  which  your  slave  is  profoundly  grateful." 
So  saying,  she  took  out  a  match  from  her 
bosom,  struck  it,  lighted  the  end  of  the  paper 
and  held  it  until  the  entire  sheet  was  con- 
sumed. Then  she  made  a  sort  of  graceful 
obeisance  and  quietly  retired.  Ties  of  gen- 
erations' standing,  old  personal  associations, 
considerations  of  bodily  needs  and  risks  attend- 
ing  an  unknown   future   weighed   nothing   or 


128         THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

little  when  freedom  and  liberty  were  involved. 
Heredity  and  environment  show  no  effect  upon 
these  fundamental  qualities  of  manhood  and 
womanhood.  As  water  is  to  the  fish  and  air 
to  the  birds,  so  is  freedom  to  man.  Life  de- 
pends on  it,  and  it  is  the  first  requisite  for 
growth  and  perpetuation. 

In  the  furtherance  of  modern  democratic 
principles,  the  Christian  religion  rendered  a 
distinct  service  in  Korea.  This  does  not  mean 
that  the  followers  of  the  church  have  con- 
sciously or  unconsciously  gone  into  the  polit- 
ical arena  as  a  body  and  busied  themselves 
with  national  questions,  nor  does  it  mean  that 
the  Christians  as  individuals  always  have 
stayed  out  of  politics.  As  it  has  been  the 
case  with  the  followers  of  other  religions  in 
Korea,  there  have  been  many  shining  examples 
of  honest  statesmanship  and  upright  leadership 
among  the  Christians,  but  there  never  has 
been  an  attempt  at  religious  domination  of 
or  machination  in  politics  on  the  part  of  the 
Christians,  Korean  or  foreign.  While  it  is 
true  that  the  foreign  missionaries  had  en- 
joyed up  to  1910  a  certain  amount  of  privileges 
at  the  hand  of  local  officials,  it  was  due  to 
their  national  status  with  regard  to  exterri- 
toriality and  more  largely  to  their  personal 
qualities. 


RISE  OF  DEMOCRATIC  SPIRIT     129 

When  it  is  said  that  Christianity  has  fur- 
thered the  democratic  principles,  it  means 
that  the  democratic  ideals  are  so  allied  to  the 
Christian  teaching,  and  that  the  democratic 
institutions  are  so  linked  with  the  Christian 
usages,  that  they  are  inseparable  and  indis- 
tinguishable. This  is  due,  historically,  to  the 
fact  that  the  principle  and  practice  of  democracy 
are  the  emanation  and  interpretation  of  Chris- 
tianity. This  is  the  true  explanation  of  the 
reason  why  the  rise  and  falj  in  the  curve  of 
the  growth  of  Christianity  have  maintained 
such  a  remarkable  parallelism  with  that  of  the 
democratic  movement  in  Korea. 

Not  understanding  this,  or  refusing  to  under- 
stand, outside  critics  attributed  to  ulterior 
motives  the  phenomenal  growth  of  the  mission 
work  in  the  peninsula.  At  one  time  an  ig- 
norant journalist  stated  in  such  a  well-known 
monthly  as  the  Tokyo  Taiyo  that  the  Chris- 
tians were  paid  so  much  each  to  join  the 
church.  Some  ingratiating  foreign  writers 
talked  about  "rice  Christians,"  etc.  These  are 
not  surprising  when  we  hear  men  of  that  ilk 
making  even  more  preposterous  statements  to 
the  effect  that  the  Koreans  are  paid  ten  cents 
each  to  go  out  and  shout  "Mansei!" — ten 
cents  to  be  hacked  and  shot!  Life  (of  others) 
is  held  by  some  people  very  cheap,  but  it  is 


130         THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

worth  more  than  ten  cents  (to  those  who  live 
it).  As  to  "rice  Christians,"  suffice  it  to  say 
Christianity  as  a  "profession"  has  never  been 
profitable  in  the  way  of  worldly  goods  to  any- 
one anywhere  in  the  world,  especially  since  the 
prevalence  of  high  cost  of  living.  Some  of  the 
best  and  most  able  Christian  pastors  are  doing 
in  their  homes  cobbler's  work  or  any  other  work 
that  comes  in  hand  these  days  in  order  to 
help  their  family  budget.  In  the  following 
pages  it  is  hoped  to  show  how  the  Christian- 
ization  has  been  also  the  democratization  of 
the  people  in  Korea. 

Though  Christianity  came  to  the  notice  of 
Korean  scholars  in  the  winter  of  the  year  1777 
through  some  tracts  that  had  been  brought 
from  Peking  by  the  Korean  embassy,  and  the 
first  Korean  to  be  baptized  was  a  son  of  the 
third  ambassador  to  the  Chinese  emperor  in 
the  year  1783,  the  real  propagation  work  done 
by  the  Christian  churches  on  their  own  rights 
did  not  begin  until  the  country  was  opened 
up  to  the  Western  nations  in  the  year  1882. 
Dr.  Horace  N.  Allen,  an  American  Presby- 
terian missionary  physician,  arrived  in  the  fall 
of  1884.  In  the  following  spring  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Henry  G.  Appenzeller  and  Dr.  W.  B. 
Scranton,  both  representing  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  in  America,  sailed  from  San 


RISE  OF  DEMOCRATIC  SPIRIT     131 

Francisco  for  Korea.  The  first  Presbyterian 
missionary  for  the  evangelistic  work,  the  Rev. 
Mr.  (later  Dr.)  Horace  G.  Underwood,  arrived 
in  Seoul  the  same  year. 

Medical  work  was  the  entering  wedge,  then 
education  followed,  and  then  the  evangelistic 
work  as  such  gained  a  foothold.  The  story  how 
Dr.  Allen  gained  a  way  to  the  presence  of  the 
King  by  saving  the  life  of  Mr.  Min  Yung  Ik, 
the  Queen's  cousin,  is  a  familiar  story  now. 
At  any  rate,  a  hospital  was  started  under 
government  auspices  with  Dr.  Allen  at  the 
head  of  it.  It  was  christened  "Che-Choong 
Won,"  or  "the  Multitude-Saving  Bureau." 

In  what  way  is  the  modern  hospital  under 
Christian  management  a  democratizing  agency? 
The  answer  is  simple.  Probably  the  class 
distinction  that  was  many  centuries  old  re- 
ceived its  first  shock  in  the  dispensary  and 
operating  room  of  this  institution.  It  is  also 
probable  that  the  first  gentle  touch  that  has 
led  to  the  process  of  doing  away  with  the 
seclusion  of  women,  and  that  is  leading  to  the 
demand  for  equal  rights  for  women,  was  felt 
here.  The  doctrine  that  all  men  are  born 
equal  was  not  preached  here,  but  it  was  lived 
here;  and  all  those  who  came  to  this  place 
had  to  breathe  and  move  about  in  the  same 
atmosphere.    A  slave  and  master  received  the 


132         THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

same  kind  of  medical  treatment,  the  same 
professional  care  and  attention  and  the  same 
personal  regard,  because  to  the  Christian 
doctor  they  are  both  his  brothers.  His  Chris- 
tian ethical  standard  made  him  without  know- 
ing to  show  greater  deference  to  the  weaker 
sex,  however  beggarly  the  person  might  have 
happened  to  be.  He  may  not  even  have 
dreamed  of  the  import  of  what  he  was  doing 
and  of  what  the  future  effect  would  be,  but 
the  little  leaven  of  a  tremendous  principle 
(equality)  slipped  in  without  having  anybody's 
eyes  raised. 

There  are  numerous  such  seemingly  trivial 
yet  really  significant  instances  that  can  be 
properly  cited.  Take,  for  instance,  the  family 
life  of  the  missionary,  contrasted  with  that  of 
the  people.  What  he  first  found  was  the  old 
patriarchal  family.  In  this  religio-legal  family, 
the  father  holds  the  supreme  authority  over  the 
entire  household.  Austerity  is  the  pervading 
atmosphere  and  obedience  the  paramount  vir- 
tue. The  father's  wisdom  never  must  be 
questioned  and  his  judgment  must  be  taken 
as  law.  Any  manifestation  of  romanticism  is 
frivolity,  and  a  show  of  family  affection  is 
considered  unmanly.  The  marriage  is  ar- 
ranged by  the  elders,  the  bride  and  groom 
having  no  opportunity  to  see  each  other  be- 


RISE  OF  DEMOCRATIC  SPIRIT     133 

fore  the  wedding  ceremony.  Even  after  mar- 
riage, for  decades,  as  long  as  the  parents  are 
living,  they  are  nothing  more  than  mere 
acquaintances  to  each  other,  and  it  is  a  viola- 
tion of  good  form  to  speak  to  each  other  before 
parents.  This  follows  out  from  the  careful 
interpretation  of  the  Five  Moral  Principles  of 
Mancius,  one  of  which  is  that  "there  must 
be  distinction  between  husband  and  wife." 

Imagine  the  contrast  between  this  and  the 
"romantic  family"  the  missionary  brings  into 
the  land.  The  very  expression  he  and  his 
wife  wear  when  they  see  each  other  is  a  con- 
trast. Wherever  they  go,  or  whatever  they 
do,  their  presence  and  their  action  preach, 
though  silently  and  unconsciously,  a  social 
evolution  and  revolution.  The  people  with 
whom  they  come  in  daily  contact  cannot  help 
observing,  and  if  there  is  anything  that  is 
good  and  beautiful,  they  cannot  fail  to  adopt 
it  in  their  own  lives. 

The  next  thing  after  the  medical  was  the 
educational  work.  Letting  in  the  light  and 
knowledge  and  dispelling  the  darkness  and 
ignorance  are  the  fundamental  duties  of  Chris- 
tians. Furthermore,  the  pioneer  missionaries 
saw  that  education  would  be  the  most  effective 
and  lasting  channel  through  which  their  faith 
could  be  propagated.     So  in  the  year  1885, 


134  THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

the  first  Christian  school  came  into  being  and 
was  formally  opened  in  1886  in  a  newly  built 
modern  brick  building,  under  the  King's  own 
patronage.  He  gave  the  name  Pai  Chai 
Eaktang,  the  "Hall  for  the  Rearing  of  Useful 
Men."  Mr.  Appenzeller,  the  Methodist  pio- 
neer, was  the  founder  and  became  the  first 
principal  of  the  school. 

Of  all  the  Christian  institutions,  perhaps  this 
school  has  done  more  than  any  other  in  usher- 
ing in  the  agencies  and  instruments  that 
helped  the  people  to  gain  the  knowledge  of 
modern  democratic  ideals.  As  an  industrial 
department  of  the  school  to  help  students  of 
needy  circumstances,  a  modern  printing  and 
publishing  work  in  three  languages — Korean, 
English,  and  Chinese — was  started.  It  was 
the  first  of  its  kind  at  that  time.  This  press 
published  the  first  English  monthly,  The 
Korean  Repository,  in  Korea.  A  little  later 
the  first  Korean  weeklies,  the  Korean  Advocate 
and  the  Mutual  Friendship  Weekly,  were  pub- 
lished, the  latter  by  the  students  for  the  general 
public  as  well  as  for  themselves.  Soon  after 
that  the  first  Korean  daily  paper  was  started 
by  the  faculty  and  the  students  of  the  school. 

In  the  halls  of  this  school  the  first  public 
lectures  were  given  under  the  leadership  of  Dr. 
Philip  Jaisohn,  now  in  Philadelphia,  and  these 


RISE  OF  DEMOCRATIC  SPIRIT     135 

lectures  grew  out  into  the  formation  of  the 
famous  Independence  Club,  which  played  so 
important  and  dramatic  a  part  in  infusing  the 
principles  of  democracy  and  patriotism  in  the 
hearts  of  the  Koreans  during  the  latter  years 
of  the  90's.  Hundreds  of  young  men,  after 
once  pasing  through  the  halls  of  this  school, 
wherever  they  went,  have  been  walking  testi- 
monies for  the  excellence  of  Christian  and 
democratic  ideals. 

The  reasons  are  not  far  to  seek.  If  a  man 
is  at  all  sincere,  he  cannot  be  a  Christian  and 
at  the  same  time  not  be  democratic  in  spirit. 
"Liberty,  Equality  and  Fraternity"  were  the 
great  political  principles  during  the  bio  dy 
French  Revolution.  They  were  preached  to 
frenzied  mobs,  and  in  their  name  many  horrible 
works  have  been  wrought.  But  where  have 
those  principles  originated,  and  what  more 
effective  and  wholesome  method  of  producing 
a  firm  conviction  is  there  than  that  of  a  man 
sitting  down  quietly  and  calmly  meditating 
over  the  Golden  Rule?  Fraternity  is  there 
when  one  is  taught  to  love  one's  enemy.  Equal- 
ity is  there  when  one  is  told  that  there  is  only 
one  Master,  and  that  if  any  man  would  be 
first,  he  shall  be  last  of  all,  and  servant  of  all. 
Liberty  is  there  when  one  is  told  to  gain  free- 
dom from  self  and  make  one's  righteousness 


136  THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

exceed  that  of  those  who  fulfill  only  the  letter 
of  the  law. 

This  revolutionizing  effect  of  the  Christian 
educational  work  is  not  only  true  in  the  case 
of  young  men,  but  it  is  equally  so  with  the 
young  girls  and  women.    The  pioneer  Christian 
education  of  women  was  undertaken  by  Mrs. 
F.  M.  Scranton  in  Seoul  under  the  auspices 
of  the  Woman's  Foreign  Missionary  Society  of 
the  Methodist  Episcopal   Church.     The  school 
opened  about  the  year  1885,  and  it  was  named 
the    Ewha    Haktang,    or    the    "Pear    Blossom 
School,"   the  ground   upon    which   the  school 
stands  having  once  been  occupied  by  a  noble- 
man's villa  of  that  same  name.     Through  the 
transforming  influence  of  this  and   other  sim- 
ilar institutions  that  followed   during  the  later 
years,   the  meaning   and   outlook    of  women's 
lives  have  been  greatly    changed   and  broad- 
ened.   Instead  of  "reverence  to  ancestors  and 
hospitality  to  guests"    being   almost  the  sole 
duties  of  women,  other  things  that  make  life 
worth   while   have   been    added.      They   have 
come  to  the  point  where  they  feel  that  knowl- 
edge is  just  as  important  to  them  as  to  men 
for   the   full   enjoyment    and    development   of 
life.     They  have  to  a  large  measure  restored 
to  music  and  art  the  place  of  honor  and  re- 
spect which  it  once   occupied    in   the   life  of 


RISE  OF  DEMOCRATIC  SPIRIT     137 

noble  women,  but  had  been  neglected  and 
lost  during  the  latter  years. 

It  has  been  distinctly  fortunate  for  Korea 
that  the  leadership  in  the  broadening  of  the 
sphere  of  women  has  been  taken  by  the  Chris- 
tian women,  and  all  the  quiet  but  effective 
transforming  movements  went  hand  in  hand 
with  Christian  service  of  one  form  or  another, 
because  without  the  association  of  the  Chris- 
tian virtues  the  result  might  have  been  dis- 
astrous to  the  edification  of  homes. 

There  are  other  schools  established  by  the 
Presbyterian  Church  in  different  parts  of  the 
country.  The  most  notable  among  them  are 
the  John  D.  Wells  Academy  and  the  Woman's 
Academy  in  Seoul,  the  former  started  by  the 
late  Dr.  Horace  G.  Underwood;  the  Pyeng 
Yang  Christian  College;  and,  more  recently, 
there  have  developed  under  union  management 
the  Severance  Medical  College  and  the  Chosen 
Christian  College,  both  under  the  presidency 
of  Dr.  O.  R.  Avison.  All  these  schools  have 
exerted  and  continue  to  exert  a  powerful  in- 
fluence of  Christian  democracy  upon  the  lives 
of  young  men  and  women.  All  these  men  and 
women  who  devoted  so  many  years  of  the 
best  part  of  their  lives  in  the  advancement  of 
knowledge  of  the  Korean  youths  have  shown 
conscientious   scruples   with   regard   to   direct 


138         THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

meddling  with  things  political.  They  have 
been  teachers  of  great  truths  of  eternal  and 
world  values,  but  they  always  refrained  from 
being  iconoclastic  reformers.  They  have  taught 
the  truth  regardless  of  applications,  which  were 
wisely  left  with  those  who  received  the  teach- 
ing. During  the  twenty-five  years  of  more 
or  less  close  association  with  them  the  writer 
never  once  has  heard  a  missionary  giving  advice 
as  to  what  political  course  one  should  take, 
even  when  such  an  advice  is  asked  for. 

Chronologically,  next  after  the  schools  is  the 
evangelistic  work  proper.  In  the  case  of  the 
Methodist  Church  the  first  church  organiza- 
tion was  formed  in  the  chapel  of  the  school, 
namely,  the  Pai  Chai  School.  A  nucleus  was 
formed  in  the  school  with  the  students  and 
their  friends,  and  it  later  developed  into  a 
church,  the  First  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
of  Seoul,  from  which  grew  other  churches  in 
the  city  and  in  the  outlying  districts.  Even 
to  this  date  schools  form  the  most  powerful 
link  between  the  church  and  the  non-Christian 
community  in  a  given  area.  During  the  re- 
cent years,  the  inability  to  support  a  church 
school  has  proven  to  be  a  great  handicap  to 
the  evangelistic  work.  If  the  evangelistic  work 
is  going  to  have  its  full  scope,  all  the  church 
schools,    both   primary    and   higher,    must   be 


RISE  OF  DEMOCRATIC  SPIRIT     139 


retained,  and  the  facilities  enlarged.  This  re- 
tention and  enlargement  are  justifiable  as  long 
as  the  government  is  not  in  a  position  to  make 
provision  for  universal  education  of  children 
possible  and  are  permissible  as  long  as  nothing 
but  education  pure  and  simple  is  given 
therein. 

Soon  after  the  effective  organization  of  the 
churches  with  strong  and  nascent  constituency 
— that  is,  since  the  beginning  of  the  present 
century — the  growth  of  the  evangelistic  work 
has  been  phenomenal,  and  it  is  quite  well 
known  throughout  the  world.  From  an  abso- 
lute nothing  thirty-five  years  ago  to  300,000 
now  is  remarkable  indeed.  Korea  has  more 
Christians  in  proportion  than  either  China  or 
Japan  has — in  fact,  than  any  other  country  in 
the  Orient.  The  Protestant  work  in  China  dates 
back  to  1807,  whereas  in  Korea  only  to  1884. 
According  to  the  latest  statistics  available, 
China  has  a  missionary  body  of  5,517,  while 
Korea  has  less  than  400.  Yet,  the  Christian 
population  in  China  is  only  511,142  out  of  a 
total  population  of  nearly  400,000,000.  That 
means  that  China  has  one  Protestant  Christian 
in  every  800  of  her  population,  and  that  Korea 
has  one  in  every  55. 

What  is  the  secret  of  the  extraordinary 
growth?    Various  answers  have  been  given,  and 


140         THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

certain  insinuations  have  not  been  lacking,  as 
it  already  has  been  touched  upon;  but  the 
writer  will  try  to  state  his  own  answer  as  a 
Korean  in  the  light  of  what  he  knows  and  what 
he  has  experienced. 

First,  Christian  teaching  makes  for  an 
abundant  life.  The  hospitals,  the  schools  for 
both  men  and  women,  the  splendid  ways  of 
organization,  the  periodicals,  the  literature  and 
art,  and  a  host  of  other  things  that  help  to 
make  life  full  and  interesting  have  followed 
the  train  of  Christianity.  These  are  the  things 
that  help  to  make  life  happy  and  worth  while, 
whether  we  call  them  democratic  institutions 
or  by  any  other  name.  Whether  the  question 
that  they  grew  out  of  the  Christian  religion  is 
debatable  or  not,  they  are  now  the  part  and 
parcel  of  the  church,  and  wherever  the  church 
goes  they  follow. 

Second,  Christianity  recognizes  the  personal- 
ism  of  individuals.  Man  is  not  merely  a  part 
of  a  mass  of  humanity,  but  he  has  his  own 
peculiar  personality  distinct  from  any  other's, 
and  that  personality  is  in  the  final  analysis 
solely  responsible  to  the  Supreme  Being.  Every 
person  has  his  worth,  his  rights,  and  duties. 
This  is  a  mighty  germ  for  liberalism  and  de- 
mocracy. This  helps  one  to  find  one's  own 
place  in  the  world  scheme  of  things,  and  it 


RISE  OF  DEMOCRATIC  SPIRIT     141 

compels  one  to  recognize  and  respect  the  per- 
sonality of  others.  This  doctrine  is  not  in- 
terested in  any  political  or  social  idea  of  a 
given  period,  but  it  holds  up  a  lofty  ideal  for 
the  whole  of  humanity  to  reach  approximately. 
This  doctrine  abolishes  slavery  without  antag- 
onizing it,  it  removes  oppression  without  draw- 
ing a  sword,  and  it  steadies  radicalism  without 
being  reactionary. 

Third,  Christianity  gives  an  undying  faith 
and  a  living  hope.  This  universe,  according 
to  Christianity,  has  not  been  brought  about  by 
spontaneity  and  is  not  sustained  spontaneously, 
but  there  is  a  Master  Mind,  which  is  con- 
stantly evolving  this  order  of  things  to  a  some- 
thing better  and  higher.  That  gives  the 
Korean  mind  something  to  depend  on.  To  the 
Koreans  the  outside  circumstances  look  black 
enough,  but  once  they  get  this  eternal  faith 
and  hope  that  good  will  come  out  of  all  these 
evils,  that  right  will  make  might,  that  their 
triumph  will  come  when  the  Master  Mind 
triumphs,  and  that  there  is  a  great  future 
awaiting  everybody,  their  immediate  difficulties 
seem  trivial,  discouragement  vanishes,  and  life's 
outlook  seems  bright  to  them. 

Fourth,  Christianity  teaches  self-sacrifice  for 
the  fulfillment  of  life's  mission.  Up  to  the 
time    when    Christianity    came,    the    mental 


142  THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

horizon  of  the  Korean  people  was  rather  cir- 
cumscribed within  the  geographical  limits  of 
the  three  seas  and  the  Ever- White  Mountains. 
We  were  hermits  within  those  limits,  and  isola- 
tion was  quite  Utopian.  But  Christianity 
comes  and  teaches  that  every  life,  individual 
or  national,  has  a  mission — "Go  ye  therefore 
and  teach  all  nations,  .  .  .  teaching  them  to 
observe  all  things  whatsoever  I  have  com- 
manded you";  and  this  must  be  done  by  self- 
sacrificing  love.  This  lifts  the  Koreans  from 
an  isolated  self-centered  life  to  the  world  life. 
They  are  to  take  a  place  in  the  affairs  of  the 
world,  they  are  interested  in  the  welfare  and 
advancement  of  other  peoples,  and  they  are 
eager  to  contribute  toward  the  common  good 
of  the  whole  humanity.  While  they  think  of 
helping  others  pari  passu  they  help  themselves. 
This  shifting  of  thought  center  from  self  to 
the  world  is  the  greatest  blessing  Korea  has 
received  from  Christianity,  and  this  will  lead 
to  the  complete  transformation  of  the  religious, 
social,  and  political  life  of  the  whole  East. 

All  the  potent  factors  that  enter  into  the 
teachings  of  the  Son  of  man,  only  a  few  of 
which  are  enumerated  above,  have  been  the 
vital  and  transforming  forces  that  worked 
silently  and  unostentatiously  upon  the  minds 
of  the  Korean  people,  who  in  due  time  have 


RISE  OF  DEMOCRATIC  SPIRIT     143 


arrived  at  the  place  where  they  are  conscious 
of  the  necessity  of  appropriating  those  forces 
for  their  advancement  and  the  world's  better- 
ment. Such  a  consciousness  and  desire  are  the 
logical  and  inevitable  result  of  the  teaching 
of  the  eternal  truth. 

This  emphasis  upon  the  potency  of  Chris- 
tianity, and  its  inevitable  realization  in  the 
lives  of  the  people,  which  have  characterized 
the  missionary  enterprise  during  the  last  three 
decades  in  the  "Land  of  Morning  Splendor," 
must  not  be  understood  as  saying  that  aside 
from  the  Christian  movement  there  has  been 
none  other  which  directly  promoted  the  demo- 
cratic ideals,  for  there  have  been  many  with 
varying  degrees  of  success.  They  have  become 
a  part  of  the  Korean  and  Eastern  history,  and 
they  need  not  be  detailed  here,  but  a  mere 
indication  of  a  few  of  them  seems  proper. 

In  the  year  1884  a  group  of  young  and  pro- 
gressive men  conceived  of  a  plan  to  free  Korea 
from  all  foreign  influences.  Both  Japan  and 
the  United  States  officially  recognized  the  inde- 
pendence and  integrity  of  Korea,  but  the 
historical  relation  with  China  was  still  a 
mooted  question.  Yuan  Shih  Kai  was  the 
Chinese  envoy  to  the  Korean  Court,  and  his 
personal  influence  and  official  prestige  were 
quite  strong.     The  young  and  ardent  patriots 


144  THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

were  impatient  with  the  situation,  and  were 
determined  to  overthrow  the  influence  of 
China.  In  trying  to  do  so  they  adopted  a 
wrong  method.  Instead  of  taking  time  to 
build  up  a  strong  and  healthy  constituency 
which  will  ultimately  overwhelm  the  con- 
servatives who  favored  China,  they  planned  a 
coup  d'etat,  by  which  they  endeavored  to  ex- 
terminate the  conservatives  and  cast  out  the 
Chinese  shadow.  A  company  of  men,  pro- 
gressive and  sincere,  led  by  Mr.  Kim  Ok-Kiun, 
Prince  Park  Yung  Hio,  Soh  Kwang-Pum,  Soh 
Chai-Pil  (Dr.  Philip  Jaisohn),  Hong  Yungsic, 
and  Cynn  Chwa-Mo,  took  possession  of  the 
person  of  the  King  with  the  aid  of  the  Japanese 
and  tried  to  change  everything  at  one  stroke. 
The  Korean  military  were  not  with  them,  the 
people  took  alarm  and  sided  with  the  conserva- 
tives, and  the  Chinese  were  stronger  and  better 
prepared  than  the  Japanese.  Consequently, 
after  a  bloody  struggle  of  a  few  hours,  the  pro- 
gressives were  ousted  and  outlawed.  Hong  and 
Cynn  were  killed  in  the  fray,  and  of  the  remain- 
der nearly  all  escaped  to  Japan,  and  a  few 
went  to  the  United  States.  This  gave  an 
undisputed  advantage  to  Japan  over  China, 
and  later  over  Russia,  as  a  nation  that  espoused 
the  cause  of  progress  and  freedom  before  the 
eyes    of    the    world.      Their    ardent    love    for 


RISE  OF  DEMOCRATIC  SPIRIT     145 

their  country  and  their  sacrifices  were  un- 
wittingly turned  into  plowing  a  fertile  field 
for  the  crop  of  a  third  party! 

In  1894,  when  the  Chino- Japanese  War  was 
fought,  Prince  Park  returned,  and  others  soon 
followed,  excepting  Mr.  Kim  Ok-Kiun,  the 
arch-patriot  of  Korea,  who  was  brutally  mur- 
dered in  Shanghai  the  year  before.  These 
men  introduced  remarkable  reforms,  and  their 
achievements  are  of  lasting  value,  but  their 
hands  were  not  entirely  free.  After  a  few 
months,  Prince  Park  had  to  leave  the  country 
again,  and  men  more  amenable  to  the  wishes 
of  the  power  behind  the  scene  took  his  place. 
Mr.  Soh  Kwang-Pum  also  left  the  country  as 
Korea's  minister  to  Washington.  Dr.  Jaisohn 
remained  a  few  years  longer,  having  started  a 
bilingual  daily  (Korean  and  English)  called 
The  Independent,  and  also  having  organized  the 
Independence  Club.  But  it  was  not  very  long 
before  he  had  to  leave  also.  He  intrusted  his 
paper  to  Mr.  Yun  Chi-Ho,  a  tried  Christian 
and  a  leader  of  balanced  judgment,  and  left 
the  country  with  his  family  for  America.  The 
Russian  Czarism  was  getting  stronger  and 
stronger  in  the  politics  of  the  Orient,  and  the 
democratic  movement  in  Korea  was  getting 
its  full  effect.  The  Independence  Club  was 
soon  dissolved,  and  many  of  its  members  were 


146  THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

imprisoned  and  killed.  Among  them  probably 
the  most  notable  one  is  Dr.  Rhee  Syngman, 
whom  the  present  movement  has  chosen  to 
be  the  President  of  the  Provisional  Govern- 
ment. Owing  directly  to  his  activities  in  the 
Independence  Club  he  was  imprisoned  for  life, 
but  was  released  in  1904  when  the  Russians 
were  defeated. 

From  1904  until  1910  the  democratic  move- 
ment acquired  a  new  energy,  and  it  was  grow- 
ing rapidly.  Newspapers  and  magazines  rose 
here  and  there  in  rapid  succession,  literally 
thousands  of  schools  were  established  all  over 
the  country  by  private  persons,  and  asso- 
ciations looking  toward  the  promotion  and 
strengthening  of  the  welfare  of  the  people  and 
the  country  were  formed  with  great  enthusiasm 
in  all  the  important  centers.  The  former 
leaders  of  the  Independence  Club  rallied  them- 
selves and  organized  what  was  called  Cha-Kang 
Hoi,  or  the  "Self -Efficiency  Association,"  with 
Mr.  Yun  Chi-Ho  as  their  president.  This  and 
other  associations  moved  the  people  tremen- 
dously to  come  to  a  social  and  national  con- 
sciousness. One  of  the  most  sturdy  and 
conspicuous  leaders  in  these  and  the  previous 
movements  is  Mr.  Yi  Sang-Chai.  An  Amer- 
ican who  is  a  great  leader  in  the  Christian 
movement  in  America  and  the  Orient  once 


RISE  OF  DEMOCRATIC  SPIRIT     147 

said  to  the  writer  that  in  his  opinion  Mr.  Yi 
was  one  of  the  greatest  men  in  the  world,  and 
now  foreign  opinion  is  fast  coming  to  the  same 
conclusion.  A  fearless  and  rugged  character  is 
his,  and  though  he  embraced  Christianity  in 
his  late  years — for  he  is  an  old  man — he  is  one 
of  the  most  inflexible  yet  the  sunniest  Christian 
one  can  meet  anywhere.  His  fearlessness  and 
humor  were  illustrated  in  his  answer  to  the 
secret  agent,  as  briefly  narrated  in  a  previous 
chapter. 

All  these  movements  came  to  a  sudden  stop 
in  the  fall  of  the  year  1910,  when  the  country 
was  annexed  to  Japan  and  a  rigorous  military 
regime  inaugurated.  Liberalism  was  taboo, 
and  the  machinery  and  agencies  of  democracy 
were  systematically  suppressed.  All  associa- 
tions have  been  dissolved,  all  newspapers  have 
been  suppressed,  all  voices  and  writings  on 
political  matters  silenced  and  stopped;  even 
schools  were  feared  to  have  any  political  lean- 
ing, and,  therefore,  certain  circumstances  were 
created  which  led  to  their  gradual  elimination. 

There  are  other  factors  besides  those  which 
have  been  given  in  the  preceding  three  chapters 
that  enter  into  the  causes  of  the  Korean  up- 
rising, but  in  the  main  they  are  the  chief  and 
immediate  factors.  The  outcome  of  the  World 
War  has  been  alluded  to  in  the  first  chapter 


148  THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

in  an  incidental  way,  and  much  more  might  be 
said  along  that  line,  but,  in  the  opinion  of  the 
writer,  the  victory  of  the  Allies,  though  it  had  a 
great  influence  upon  the  Koreans,  such  influence 
was  that  of  hastening  the  awakening  rather  than 
giving  cause  to  it.  In  other  words,  whether 
there  had  been  a  war  and  a  victory  of  the  world 
democracy  or  not,  the  Koreans  could  not  go 
on  much  longer  with  their  stifled  aspirations. 
The  situation  might  be  likened  to  water  in  a 
vessel,  which  when  heated  to  its  evaporating 
point,  will  throw  off  any  lid,  no  matter  how 
heavy  it  may  be. 


PART  THREE 
CONCLUSION 


CHAPTER  VII 

JAPAN'S  POLICY  AND  KOREA 

The  natural  question  that  rises  in  one's 
mind  after  these  analyses  is,  Why  is  Japan  in 
Korea?  Japan  claims  that  her  occupation  of 
that  country  has  been  costly  to  her  both  in 
money  and  in  man-power.  The  initial  cost  of 
the  coup  that  brought  about  the  "Union"  was 
twenty  million  yen,  and  she  has  two  divisions 
of  her  army  garrisoned  in  Korea.  Since  the 
outbreak  she  has  sent  six  battalions  in  addition. 
Recent  reports  say  that  fifteen  hundred  police 
have  been  asked  to  be  sent  from  Japan  to 
reenforce  some  fourteen  thousand  police  and 
gendarmes  that  are  already  there.  She  has 
in  the  meantime  received  some  very  strong 
criticisms  and  condemnation  from  the  out- 
side world  on  account  of  her  administration  of 
Korea.  Why,  then,  is  she  so  determined  in 
holding  on  to  the  possession  of  the  peninsula? 

As  far  as  the  official  explanations  go,  they 
vary  according  to  the  exigencies  of  the  times. 
Up  to  the  middle  90's  it  was  claimed  that 
Japan's  noble  and  broad  altruistic  instinct 
could  not  let  her  sit  complacently  by  and  see 
Korea    laboring    under    the    old    conservative 

151 


152  THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

influences.  It  was  said  that  she  was  getting 
the  full  blessing  of  the  Western  civilization  as 
a  result  of  her  early  and  ready  intercourse  with 
America  and  European  nations;  and  Korean 
reformers  were  told  that  the  first  step  toward 
an  unhampered  progress  was  the  total  separa- 
tion from  the  Chinese.  Then,  and  only  then, 
the  three  countries  could  maintain  a  tripodal 
relation  of  perfect  harmony,  and  the  peaceful 
development  of  the  East  would  be  assured. 
Before  the  outside  nations  Japan  was  an 
apostle  of  the  Western  enlightenment  and  an 
exponent  of  the  most  progressive  ideals.  She 
was  their  spokesman  and  messenger,  and, 
therefore,  to  them  it  seemed  natural  that  she 
should  be  so  solicitous  about  the  welfare  of  a 
neighboring  country,  and  her  disinterested  good 
will  was  to  be  greatly  praised. 

After  1895,  when  the  Chino- Japanese  war  was 
fought  and  won,  the  official  countenance 
changed  its  complexion  somewhat.  Now  it 
was  said  that  the  independence  and  integrity 
of  Korea  must  be  preserved,  because  a  buffer- 
state  was  needed  between  China,  Russia,  and 
Japan  for  the  defense  of  Nippon.  In  this  her 
profession  of  altruism  was  in  a  degree  weak- 
ened. The  situation  gradually  developed  into 
a  tug-of-war  between  herself  and  Russia.  The 
initial   mistake   was   made   by    Japan   in   her 


JAPAN'S  POLICY  AND  KOREA      153 

dealings  with  Korea.  Instead  of  pursuing  a 
broad  and  sympathetic  policy,  she  tried  from 
the  beginning  to  control  everything  herself. 
She  appointed  her  "advisers"  to  all  the  depart- 
ments in  the  Korean  government.  Her  mili- 
tary masters  drilled  the  Korean  army,  her 
agents  controlled  the  finance,  communication, 
and  the  police.  On  account  of  the  uncom- 
promising attitude  of  the  Korean  Queen,  she 
was  removed  in  a  most  horrible  manner.  All 
these  acts  created  an  opposite  effect  on  the 
Koreans.  Inexcusable  as  it  was,  the  King 
felt  that  anything  was  better  than  the  circum- 
stances under  which  he  was  placed,  so  he  fled 
into  the  open  arms  of  the  unscrupulous  and 
ambitious  Russians.  This  fatal  act  ushered  in 
the  ascendence  of  the  Russian  influence  and 
caused  the  total  expulsion  of  the  Japanese 
from  the  places  of  importance  for  the  time 
being.  Japan's  defeat  at  the  hand  of  Russia, 
as  one  of  the  three  nations  which  protested 
against  her  taking  Liao-tung  from  China,  and 
her  discomfiture  in  Korea  at  the  same  hand 
have  worked  as  a  cumulative  cause  of  the 
Russo-Japanese  War  in  1904.  There  is  no 
intention  of  condoning  the  wantonness  of  the 
Russians  or  of  belittling  the  significance  of 
the  flight  of  the  Korean  Emperor,  but  a  future 
historian  might  well  make  a  query  as  to  whether 


154.         THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

Japan  could  not  have  avoided  the  war,  which 
was  so  costly  in  blood  and  wealth,  and  removed 
the  need  of  all  the  subsequent  troubles,  including 
the  present  one  in  Korea  and  in  China,  if  she 
had  followed  a  different  policy — a  policy  of 
genuine  magnanimity  and  good  will  toward 
her  neighbors — immediately  after  the  war  in 
1894.  Until  her  own  aggressiveness  embittered 
the  minds  of  the  progressive  leaders  of  Korea, 
the  new  Japan  had  the  confidence  of  the 
Koreans.  They  were  willing  to  forget  the 
invasion  of  1592,  and  were  ready  to  join  hands 
in  the  forward  march.  Her  open  espousal  of 
the  cause  of  Korea  was  taken  as  sincere  by  the 
Koreans  as  well  as  by  other  peoples.  But  it 
is  always  the  same  mistake  that  brings  dis- 
aster to  her,  namely,  her  inability  to  overlook 
petty  interests  for  the  fulfillment  of  larger 
things.  The  same  dominating  instinct  that 
urges  that  even  a  railway  porter  must  be  a 
Japanese  is  manifest  in  all  her  political  deal- 
ings. 

In  1904  the  great  war  between  Russia  and 
Japan  was  fought,  and  the  latter  came  out 
a  victor.  In  the  consequent  treaty  at  Ports- 
mouth she  gained  Russia's  acknowledgment  of 
her  "preponderating  interest"  in  Korea.  Al- 
most immediately  after  this  the  immigration 
question  suddenly  began  to  loom  up  before  the 


JAPAN'S  POLICY  AND  KOREA      155 

Japanese  and  the  American  public.  The  San 
Francisco  school  question  served  as  a  good 
prelude,  and  it  proved  itself  to  be  a  very 
opportune  one.  The  official  reason  of  Japan's 
interest  in  Korea  changed  its  complexion  once 
more.  Japan  was  growing  rapidly  in  popula- 
tion, and  her  territory  was  too  congested 
already.  She  must  have  more  room,  and  since 
America  does  not  want  her  overflowing  popu- 
lation to  migrate  to  the  Pacific  Coast,  she 
must  go  to  Korea  and  Manchuria.  The 
argument  seemed  logical,  and  it  was  held  that 
if  she  went  to  those  places  the  immigration 
question  would  be  at  once  settled  for  all  times. 
Whether  that  was  considered  so  or  not,  Pres- 
ident Roosevelt  was  the  first  to  withdraw  the 
legation  from  the  Korean  capital  in  1907. 
Subsequent  events  have  proven  that  the  Amer- 
ican immigration  question  was  not  solved  then, 
and  it  is  not  solved  yet. 

Let  us  study  this  problem  of  colonizing  the 
"unoccupied"  lands  in  Korea  and  Manchuria 
by  the  Japanese  at  a  close  range,  to  see  whether 
Japan's  occupation  of  the  peninsula  can  be 
for  that  reason  or  not. 

Has  Japan  reached  the  maximum  degree  of 
the  cultivation  of  her  land  so  that  she  cannot 
find  any  room  anywhere  except  by  going  to 
some  other  country?     Some  eminent  author- 


156         THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

ities,  who  can  be  taken  as  competent  judges 
on  agricultural  questions  of  this  nature,  do  not 
think  so.  The  late  Professor  F.  H.  King,  of 
the  University  of  Wisconsin,  in  Farmers  of 
Forty  Centuries,  page  425,  as  quoted  by  Bishop 
Bashford  in  his  monumental  work  China:  An 
Interpretation,  speaks  as  follows: 

"If  all  lands  having  slope  of  less  than  fifteen 
degrees  may  be  tilled,  there  yet  remains  in  the 
four  main  islands  of  Japan  as  much  as  sixty- 
five  per  cent  of  the  uncultivated  land  which 
may  yet  be  brought  under  cultivation.  If 
the  new  lands  to  be  reclaimed  can  be  made 
as  productive  as  those  in  use,  there  shall  be 
an  opportunity  for  an  increase  in  population 
to  the  extent  of  about  35,000,000  people. 
While  the  lands  remaining  to  be  reclaimed 
are  not  as  inherently  productive  as  those  now 
in  use,  improvement  in  management  will  more 
than  compensate  for  this  difference;  and  the 
empire  is  quite  certain  to  double  its  present 
maintenance  capacity  and  provide  for  at  least 
100,000,000  people  in  the  four  islands  with 
many  more  comforts  than  they  now  enjoy." 

On  the  other  hand,  what  is  the  feeling  of 
the  Japanese  people,  the  agricultural  class, 
with  regard  to  the  question  of  emigrating  to 
these  areas  in  the  East?  Whatever  argu- 
ments the  publicists  may  put  forward  to  the 


JAPAN'S  POLICY  AND  KOREA      157 

contrary,  the  facts  stand  that  the  Japanese 
farmers  have  not  responded  to  any  appreciable 
degree  to  the  call  of  "new"  opportunities  in 
these  countries.  There  are  at  least  four  rea- 
sons why  they  are  apathetic  to  the  efforts 
for  colonization  on  the  part  of  their  govern- 
ment. 

First.  There  is  the  reason  of  climatic  differ- 
ence. Japan  is  a  warmer  country  than  either 
Korea  or  Manchuria,  and  the  Japanese  as  a  rule 
cannot  stand  the  severely  cold  weather  prevail- 
ing invariably  in  Manchuria  and  frequently  in 
Korea.  Through  the  powerfully  subsidized 
Oriental  Colonization  Company  many  induce- 
ments are  offered  to  the  settler,  such  as  leasing 
the  former  Korean  state  land  on  small  rents, 
together  with  some  cash  capital  and  an  option 
of  letting  the  rest  go  into  the  payment  for  the 
land  in  case  he  should  decide  to  buy  it  after 
so  many  years,  but  excepting  in  the  southern 
provinces  of  Korea  the  offer  has  been  very 
little  taken  advantage  of.  In  the  central  and 
northern  provinces  it  has  been  the  large  land- 
owners of  Japan  who  acquired  large  tracts 
of  farming  land  either  through  the  above- 
named  organization  or  by  reclamation  under- 
takings. Men  like  Prince  Tokugawa,  of  Tokyo, 
are  said  to  own  a  great  deal  of  land  near 
Chemulpo  and  elsewhere,  but  the  number  of 


158         THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

small  farmers  who  own  and  cultivate  the  land 
in  Korea  is  quite  negligible. 

Second.  There  is  the  reason  of  economic 
disadvantage.  The  price  of  labor  is  cheaper 
in  Korea  than  in  Japan,  and  the  cost  of  living 
is  even  higher  to  them  in  some  cases,  because 
they  want  many  things  that  are  made  in  their 
own  country  and  imported  to  Korea.  Further- 
more, as  soon  as  they  are  placed  on  equal 
footing  with  the  Korean  people  they  lose  out 
in  competition.  Without  the  tacit  and  open 
preferential  treatment  they  get  under  the 
officials  of  their  own  nationality  they  are  at 
a  decided  disadvantage.  Prince  Ito  is  said 
to  have  acknowledged  that  long  ago  while 
he  was  living;  and  Professor  Iyenaga,  "the  unoffi- 
cial spokesman  of  Japan,"  has  been  quoted  by 
Bishop  Bashford  in  his  book,  giving  expression 
to  the  same  opinion  of  his  people  in  comparison 
with  the  Chinese  in  Manchuria.  Whether  the 
authoritative  opinions  of  the  Japanese  agree 
or  not  on  this  point,  the  Koreans  do  not  fear 
the  Japanese  competition,  if  they  can  be 
assured  of  being  left  to  their  own  individual 
resources. 

Third.  There  is  the  reason  of  the  subor- 
dination of  the  industrial,  agricultural,  and 
commercial  to  the  political  considerations  on 
the  part   of   the  government  officials.     Con- 


JAPAN'S  POLICY  AND  KOREA      159 

sequently,  greater  degree  of  limitation  and 
more  "red  tape"  are  met  with  by  them  in 
Korea  than  in  Japan.  The  Japanese  them- 
selves often  complain  that  their  government  in 
Korea  is  far  more  regulative  and  paternalistic 
than  their  government  in  Japan,  and  that 
nothing  is  left  to  personal  initiative. 

Fourth.  There  is  the  reason  of  the  clan 
psychology  of  the  Japanese  people.  They  are 
so  attached  to  their  native  land  and  to  their 
kinsfolk  that  they  cannot  think  of  permanently 
settling  in  another  country.  They  may  go  to 
Korea  or  Manchuria,  the  United  States  or 
Canada,  Mexico  or  South  America,  but  always 
to  earn  money  and  return  to  Japan  in  the  end. 
In  this  they  cannot  be  blamed,  because  it  is 
natural  for  them  to  wish  to  go  back  to  their 
native  land,  in  which  they  take  a  great  pride, 
and  live  in  opulence  and  honor  rather  than 
remain  alien  throughout  life  and  fill  an  un- 
known grave  in  death.  Nor  must  the  fact 
be  lost  sight  of  that  to  change  the  local  con- 
ditions of  all  those  parts  of  the  world  where 
they  go  to  the  degree  of  their  own  satisfaction 
in  compelling  the  inhabitants  of  those  local- 
ities to  accord  them  the  places  of  honor  and 
respect  is  a  task  that  is  as  yet  remote  from 
realization. 

It  must  be  plain  from  these  facts,  together 


160         THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

with  the  official  statistics,  which  have  shown 
us  that  during  all  these  years  there  have  been 
not  more  than  three  hundred  and  twenty 
thousand  Japanese  of  all  classes  in  the  penin- 
sula, that  the  plea  for  more  room  for  the 
"overflowing"  population  cannot  be  a  serious 
one.  The  extent  of  her  own  land-cultivation, 
the  climatic  and  economic  disadvantage  (if 
unaided)  in  Korea,  and  then  her  people's 
psychological  consideration  would  naturally 
lead  her  to  more  extensive  and  intensive  farm- 
ing of  the  four  main  islands,  if  the  agricultural 
question  purely  is  reflected  upon.  Further- 
more, Japan  is  fast  developing  into  an  indus- 
trial country,  and  in  order  to  get  the  raw 
material  for  her  industries  she  needs  the  good 
will  of  her  neighbors  rather  than  their  lands. 

Then,  why  is  it  she  feels  that  she  must  have 
a  foothold  upon  the  Continent  at  such  a 
cost  and  at  the  risk  of  a  permanent  alienation 
of  the  good  wishes  of  her  friends,  who  are 
beginning  so  severely  to  criticize  her  on  ac- 
count of  her  recent  acts  in  Korea?  China  is 
at  the  present  moment  rent  in  internal  dis- 
sension, and  it  will  be  many  years  before  she 
will  be  strong  enough  to  be  reckoned  as  a 
menace  to  Japan,  even  if  she  were  inclined  to 
act  aggressively.  The  Russian  bogy  has  long 
passed  into  oblivion.     No  stretch  of  imagina- 


JAPAN'S  POLICY  AND  KOREA      161 

tion  can  make  one  believe  that  the  United 
States,  for  some  reasons  now  inconceivable  but 
which  may  develop  in  the  future,  would  mo- 
bilize her  troops  over  Alaska,  cross  the  Bering 
Strait,  come  down  through  the  Pacific  littoral 
provinces  of  Siberia,  occupy  Korea  and  thrust 
"an  arrow  into  the  heart  of  Japan."  Grant- 
ing, for  the  sake  of  argument,  that  America 
could  and  would  do  that,  Japan  is  well  able 
to  defend  herself  on  her  own  ground.  She  has 
a  well-disciplined  army  of  21  corps  (42  di- 
visions), and  the  total  strength  of  her  field 
army  is  taken  at  about  600,000  combatants. 

On  the  other  hand,  is  there  a  possible  danger 
of  a  foreign  navy  breaking  through  the  Jap- 
anese Sea  forces  and  occupying  the  Korean 
peninsula,  thereby  endangering  the  existence 
of  Japan?  Without  doubt  Japan  has  the 
strongest  navy  on  the  Pacific,  besides  her  five 
naval  bases  and  fortified  zones.  The  follow- 
ing table  may  be  of  interest  to  those  who  wish 
to  make  comparisons: 

A  Statement  of  the  Japanese  Fleet  Similar  to 
That  Given  for  Others1 

Completed  at  the  end  of 
1917      1918       1919  ? 

Dreadnoughts 10  10  9  13 

Pre-Dreadnoughts 13  13  13  13 


xThe  Statesman's  Year-Book,  1919. 


12 

12 

12 

12 

5 

5 

67 

92 

26 

26 

18 

39 

162         THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

Completed  at   the  end  of 
1917       1918       1919 

Armored   Cruisers 13 

Light  Cruisers 13 

Torpedo  Gunboats,  Scouts, 

Etc 5 

Destroyers 62 

Torpedo  Boats 26 

Submarines 16 

Of  the  dreadnoughts  there  are  four  that  have 
a  speed  of  27  knots,  and  another  four  that  have 
each  a  main  armament  of  twelve  14-inch  guns. 
The  four  that  are  being  built  now  will  each 
have  eight  16-inch  guns,  with  a  displacement 
of  32,000  tons. 

The  only  other  navy  on  the  Pacific  is  that 
of  the  United  States,  and,  even  though  no  rea- 
sonable person  could  foresee  any  possible  con- 
tact between  the  two,  a  study  of  the  composition 
of  the  American  navy  is  of  some  interest: 

A  Classified  Statement  of  the  Strength  of  the 
U.  S.  Navy  on  December  31 


1916 

Dreadnoughts 13 

Pre-Dreadnoughts 23 

Armored   Cruisers 10 

1st,  2d  and  3d  Class  Cruisers  27 

Monitors 7 

Destroyers 50 

Coastal  Destroyers 16 

Torpedo  Boats 19 

Submarines 48 


Effective  at  end  of 

1917 

1918 

3 

15 

19    23 

23 

23 

10 

9 

27 

26 

7 

7 

58 

90? 

16 

20 

19 

19 

66 

92? 

JAPAN'S  POLICY  AND  KOREA      163 

Of  the  dreadnoughts  there  are  five  that  have 
each  an  armament  of  twelve  14-inch  guns,  a 
speed  of  21  knots,  and  displacement  of  32,000 
to  32,300  tons.  The  four  battleships  that  are 
being  built  now  will  each  mount  eight  16-inch 
guns,  and  are  designed  to  have  a  speed  of 
21  knots.  There  are  six  battle-cruisers  that 
will  have,  when  built,  each  a  main  armament 
of  eight  16-inch  guns  and  a  speed  of  35  knots. 

The  United  States  navy  as  a  whole  is  larger 
than  that  of  Japan,  but  when  it  is  divided  into 
two  equal  parts,  one  for  the  Atlantic  and 
another  for  the  Pacific,  each  fleet  will  be 
considerably  smaller.  At  the  present  there 
are  three  fleets,  namely,  the  Atlantic  and  the 
Pacific  Fleet  of  equal  strength,  and  a  small 
Asiatic  Fleet. 

The  foregoing  has,  again,  proven  to  us  that 
Japan's  desire  to  hold  on  to  a  territory  on  the 
Continent  cannot  be  out  of  fear  of  a  possible 
attack  from  a  third  power  that  may  be  made 
upon  her  by  first  occupying  that  territory 
either  by  land  or  sea.  If  it  is  mainly  neither 
for  colonization  nor  for  defense  of  her  empire, 
what,  then,  is  the  controlling  object? 

The  history  of  Japan's  soul-pervading  object 
that  is  seen  to  be  the  animating  spirit  of  all 
the  political  actions  in  her  international  rela- 
tions in  the  Orient  dates  back  to  the  time 


164         THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

of  Hideyoshi,  if  not,  indeed,  earlier.  It  must 
be  remembered  that  his  ultimate  aim  was  to 
conquer  China,  and  that  Korea  was  attacked 
in  1592,  when  he  was  refused  the  right  of  way 
through  the  peninsula  to  China.  To  keep 
faith  with  China  and  to  preserve  her  honor, 
Korea  chose  the  harder  road,  which  led  her 
to  the  complete  exhaustion  from  which  she 
never  has  been  able  sufficiently  to  recuperate. 
What  a  parallel  in  the  circumstances  between 
this  war  and  the  more  recent  and  greater  one 
in  Europe!  After  eight  years  of  hard  struggle 
the  allied  armies  of  China  and  Korea  drove 
the  invaders  to  their  island  homes.  But 
Japan's  object  to  be  some  day  the  dominant 
factor  does  not  seem  ever  to  have  been  re- 
linquished. Fortune  smiled  upon  her  in  the 
nineteenth  century  by  letting  her  come  in 
early  contact  with  the  Western  civilization,  and 
she  has  acquired  the  modern  method  by  which 
she  can  enforce  her  will  upon  her  neighboring 
peoples.  Her  object  is  apparently  the  hegemony 
of  Asia,  and  her  desire  to  have  a  territorial 
foothold  upon  the  Continent  lends  itself  to 
appear  as  for  nothing  else  but  to  have  a  step- 
ping-stone for  her  final  goal. 

This  may  be  an  obsolete  idea  in  these  modern 
times,  but  the  Japanese  militarists  seem  to  be 
imbued  with  that  idea  of  pan-Asian  empire,  or 


JAPAN'S  POLICY  AND  KOREA      165 

a  world-empire,  as  all  militarists  are,  and  Korea 
lies  on  their  way  now  as  she  did  over  three 
hundred  years  ago.  From  this  one  idea  have 
resulted  all  the  things  that  have  been  touched 
upon  in  the  preceding  chapters.  This  idea 
has  been  found  to  be  the  central  thought  in 
her  administration  in  Korea.  The  laws,  the 
educational  system,  the  police  system,  the 
indirect  encouragement  of  Shintoistic  ideas  and 
usages  all  had  their  bearing  upon  this  con- 
suming object.  Koreans,  to  these  militarists, 
must  be  "amalgamated"  with  the  Japanese 
so  that  they  shall  be  an  asset  to  their  plans, 
but  in  the  meantime  they  must  be  kept  down 
so  that  nothing  vital  to  the  attainment  of  that 
object  should  be  interfered  with  or  risked. 

When  the  present  uprising  started,  the  mil- 
itarists thought  that  it  must  be  put  down  at 
the  earliest  moment,  no  matter  what  it  cost. 
Terrorism  was  employed,  because  they  hoped 
to  cow  the  people  to  submission  in  the  twinkling 
of  an  eye,  and  thereby  occasion  the  least  dam- 
age to  their  cause.  It  is  perfectly  reasonable 
to  suppose  that,  if  they  had  thought  that 
some  other  method  would  bring  about  a  speedier 
result  and  at  the  same  time  would  have  accel- 
erated the  fulfillment  of  their  dream,  they 
would  without  a  doubt  have  employed  that. 
The  apparent  concession  they  have  made  with 


166         THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

Premier  Hara  may  also  be  viewed  in  that 
light.  If  the  Korean  uprising  had  occurred 
during  the  time  when  Prussian  militarism  had 
its  way,  it  wquld  in  all  probability  have  fared 
even  worse  than  it  has;  but  now,  since  democ- 
racy is  in  ascendance,  a  belated  reform  is 
talked  of.  In  other  words,  this  military  impe- 
rialism is  a  heartless  thing,  and  one  that  always 
chooses  the  line  of  least  resistance  to  its  goal. 

The  statement  made  public  by  Premier  Hara 
sounds  fair  to  an  outsider,  and  it  promises 
various  changes.  He  owns  the  guilt  of  the 
military  that  has  done  the  massacring  and 
burning  and  says  that  the  gendarmes  will  be 
removed  in  a  qualified  way.  He  also  says 
that  in  due  course  Korea  is  to  be  treated  in  all 
respects  as  being  on  the  same  footing  with 
Japan,  but  is  there  in  the  whole  of  his  lengthy 
statement  anything  that  indicates  a  change  in 
the  main  issue — that  Koreans  are  to  be  recog- 
nized as  a  people  with  history  and  aspiration 
and  are  to  be  allowed  further  to  develop  their 
civilization  for  the  benefit  of  humanity  at 
large?  Or  is  it  simply  that  another  cloak  is 
to  be  put  on  them  to  act  as  a  convenient  help 
in  her  push  toward  the  long-cherished  object? 
The  statement  itself  follows: 

Nearly  ten  years  have  elapsed  since  Korea  was  in- 
corporated into  the  Empire  of  Japan,  and  in  view  of 


JAPAN'S  POLICY  AND  KOREA      167 

significant  changes  which  meanwhile  have  presented 
themselves  in  the  conditions  of  the  country,  a  plan  of 
various  reforms  in  the  Korean  administrative  system  for 
some  time  has  been  engaging  my  attention.  Unfor- 
tunately, in  March  last  disturbances  broke  out  in  several 
parts  of  the  peninsula  which  for  obvious  reasons  have 
retarded  the  introduction  of  the  contemplated  reforms. 
It  will  not  be  necessary  at  this  moment  to  file  a  full  ac- 
count of  those  disturbances. 

It  is  much  to  be  regretted  that,  as  is  generally  the 
case  under  the  circumstances,  they  gave  birth  to  wild 
and  baseless  representations,  some  of  which  even  went 
so  far  as  to  make  new  stories  out  of  old  incidents  ante- 
dating the  annexation.  Being  determined  to  be  perfectly 
just  and  fair  in  the  conduct  of  affairs  connected  with  the 
recent  uprisings,  the  Government  will  admit  no  excuse 
for  any  culprit,  whether  he  be  a  Government  official 
or  a  private  citizen.  Take  the  Suigen  occurrence,  for 
instance.  There  the  Government  has  caused  the  respon- 
sible officers  who  had  already  been  subjected  to  administra- 
tive censure  to  be  brought  for  trial  before  a  courtmartial. 

In  proceeding  to  the  reorganization  of  the  system  of 
the  Governor-General  of  Korea,  I  regret  to  announce 
the  resignation  of  Marshal  Hasegawa,  Governor-General, 
and  of  Yamagata,  Director-General  of  Administration, 
both  of  whom  have  rendered  eminent  service  to  the  State 
at  the  important  posts  which  they  have  occupied  for 
several  years.  To  fill  the  vacancies  caused  by  their 
retirement,  Baron  Saito  and  Mr.  Midzuno  have  now 
been  appointed  respectively  as  Governor-General  and  Di- 
rector-General of  Administration.  Baron  Saito,  who  had 
long  distinguished  himself  as  a  Minister  of  State,  requires 
no  introduction  for  his  high  personality  and  powers  of 
statesmanship. 


168  THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

Nor  is  there  any  need  to  refer  to  the  high  esteem  in 
which  Mr.  Midzuno  is  held  at  home  and  abroad  as  a 
public  servant  who  has  not  only  filled  with  credit  several 
important  executive  posts  during  a  period  of  more  than 
twenty  years,  but  also  held  a  Ministerial  portfolio  in  the 
late  Cabinet.  I  have  no  doubt  that  these  two  gentlemen 
will  prove  equal  to  the  trust  placed  in  them  for  carrying 
out  the  contemplated  reforms  in  Korea  in  conformity 
with  the  expressed  wishes  of  the  Government.  Korea 
is  united  geographically  with  the  main  islands  of  Japan 
and  the  two  peoples  are  closely  related  to  each  other 
in  race,  in  manners  and  customs,  and  in  sentiments. 

No  distinction  of  inequality  should  be  allowed  to  exist 
between  them  as  loyal  subjects  of  the  same  sovereign, 
whether  politically,  socially,  or  otherwise.  These  con- 
siderations are  understood  invariably  to  have  been  kept 
in  view  in  the  imperial  rescript  issued  at  the  time  of  the 
annexation,  as  well  as  in  that  which  has  just  been  issued. 
It  should  be  noted  that  the  existing  administrative  sys- 
tem of  Korea  is  not  meant  to  be  of  a  permanent  and 
unalterable  nature,  but  that  it  embodies  provisional 
arrangements  calculated  to  meet  the  passing  needs  of 
the  transitory  period  until  the  final  goal  is  reached. 

In  pursuance  of  this  policy  the  Government  are  now 
decided  to  carry  out  various  reforms  in  Korea,  and  it 
is  their  fixed  determination  to  forward  the  progress  of 
the  country  in  order  that  all  differences  between  Korea 
and  Japan  proper  in  matters  of  education,  industry,  and 
of  the  civil  service  may  finally  be  altogether  obliterated. 
The  Government  are,  moreover,  confidently  looking 
forward  to  the  eventual  adoption  in  Korea  of  a  system 
of  provincial  and  municipal  administration  similar  to 
that  in  operation  in  Japan  proper,  so  far  as  circumstances 
would  permit.     For  a  speedy  attainment  of  the  objects 


JAPAN'S  POLICY  AND  KOREA      169 

one  naturally  cannot  rely  solely  on  the  force  of  organ 
and  machinery:  a  great  deal  must  necessarily  depend 
upon  the  efforts  of  Koreans  themselves  toward  their 
own  upliftment. 

I  am  well  aware  that  the  system  of  gendarmery  pre- 
vailing in  Korea  is  being  made  a  subject  of  criticism  at 
home  and  abroad,  but  I  would  call  attention  to  the  fact 
that  the  institution  originated  in  attempts  to  meet  the 
exigencies  of  the  situation  under  the  regime  of  residents- 
general  and  was  never  intended  to  be  a  permanent  arrange- 
ment. It  is  now  proposed  to  have  gendarmery  replaced 
by  a  force  of  police  to  be  placed  under  the  control  of 
local  governors  in  a  manner  similar  to  that  which  obtains 
in  Japan  proper,  except  in  districts  where  conditions 
make  immediate  elimination  inadvisable. 

It  is  not  possible  at  this  moment  to  make  any  further 
announcement  on  the  details  of  the  contemplated  re- 
forms, which  it  remains  for  the  newly  appointed  author- 
ities to  work  out.  To  sum  up,  however,  it  may  be  stated 
that  Korea  and  Japan  proper,  forming  equally  integral 
parts  of  the  same  empire,  no  distinction  should  in  prin- 
ciple be  made  between  them,  and  that  it  is  the  ultimate 
purpose  of  the  Japanese  government  in  due  course  to 
treat  Korea  as  in  all  respects  on  the  same  footing  with 
Japan  proper.  In  this  wise  may  be  attained  the  only 
true  object  of  the  annexation,  and  on  these  lines  may  be 
expected  the  permanent  advance  and  enlightenment  of 
the  Koreans.  I  trust  that  the  above  brief  observa- 
tions may  assist  the  public  at  home  and  abroad  to  arrive 
at  a  full  comprehension  of  the  true  intentions  and  policy 
of  the  Japanese  government. 

The  statement  speaks  for  itself,  and  no 
comment  is  necessary  except  to  call  attention 


170         THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

to  the  fact  that  the  same  deferment  of  the 
necessary  reforms  is  found  In  the  phrases  such 
as,  "may  finally,"  "eventual  adoption,"  "in 
principle,"  "in  due  course,"  etc.,  and  to  the 
fact  that  the  same  insistence  is  made  that  the 
Koreans  are  related  to  Japan  "in  race,  in  man- 
ners and  customs,  and  in  sentiment."  On 
May  15,  he  gave  an  interview  to  Bishop  Her- 
bert Welch,  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
and  an  account  of  it  appeared  in  the  New  York 
Evening  Post  on  August  23,  in  which  the 
Bishop  says:  "The  central  thought  in  his 
mind,  coming  out  repeatedly  during  the  inter- 
view, was  that  the  Koreans  were  not  sub- 
stantially different  from  the  Japanese.  He 
recognized  the  close  kinship  in  race  and  in 
tradition,  and  this  view  was  evidently  de- 
terminative of  his  whole  policy."  In  what 
respect  does  this  differ  from  the  policy  of  his 
predecessors?  The  same  insistence  ignores  the 
Koreans  as  a  people,  the  same  insistence  spells 
their  obliteration,  and  the  same  "in  principle" 
but  not  in  fact  will  perpetuate  the  discrimina- 
tion. The  Korean  desires  to  be  recognized 
as  man,  and  a  mouthful  of  rice  more  or  less, 
or  a  copper  or  two  more  or  less  does  not  weigh 
with  him  much.  "What  is  a  man  profited  if 
he  shall  gain  the  whole  world,  and  lose  his 
own  soul?" 


CHAPTER  Vin 

DEMOCRACY  AND  THE  FUTURE 
OF  KOREA 

What  is  going  to  be  the  outcome?  To  ven- 
ture a  forecast  is  at  the  least  foolhardy.  But 
there  are  some  unmistakable  signs  that  come 
with  the  changing  times,  and  they  help  us  to 
form  conclusions  which  the  future  may  prove 
not  too  far  from  being  correct. 

The  World  War  has  shaken  up  humanity  in 
a  way  that  is  unprecedented.  Men  of  all 
classes,  nations,  and  races  have  been  on  one 
side  or  the  other;  and  they  have  been  all  on 
equal  footing.  They  have  been  in  the  "Army 
of  Democracy."  In  the  Student  at  Arms  its 
author  describes  how  men  of  all  stations,  high 
and  low,  rich  and  poor,  appeared  alike,  when 
they  were  made  to  discard  their  civilian  'clothes 
of  various  kinds,  which  ordinarily  gave  the 
distinguishing  marks,  and  were  made  to  don 
the  uniforms  and  line  up  for  inspection.  Then 
he  tells  us  how  in  the  trenches  and  behind  the 
barbed-wire  entanglements  when  the  sand-bags 
had  to  be  refilled,  the  real  distinguishing  mark 
— between  a  "white  man"  and  a  "worm" — 
came  out. 

171 


172  THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

Not  long  ago,  in  an  Eastern  city  in  America, 
the  following  story  was  confirmed  by  one  of 
the  guests  at  a  friendly  gathering  as  a  part 
of  his  own  rather  humorous  experience.  There 
was  a  colonel  in  service  "over  there,"  and  he 
had  with  him,  as  it  is  the  custom,  an  orderly 
whose  duty  it  was  to  clean  his  boots,  brush 
his  clothes,  etc.  Every  time  when  he  was 
pleased  with  the  work  the  orderly  did,  he  gave 
him  a  dime  or  a  quarter  as  a  reward  or  "tip." 
The  orderly  always  received  the  money  politely 
and  put  it  in  his  pocket.  This  went  on  for 
quite  a  while.  But  the  time  for  the  raising 
of  the  Liberty  Loan  came,  and  to  the  utter 
amazement  of  the  colonel,  the  orderly  sub- 
scribed $500,000  in  cash!  Later  the  colonel 
found  out  that  the  orderly  belonged  to  a 
prominent  banking  family  in  one  of  the  New 
England  States. 

This  great  shaking-up  has  made  the  men 
instinctively  feel  that  the  society  in  which  they 
have  been  living  has  many  things  that  need 
reform.  It  has  made  them  feel  that  a  revalua- 
tion and  a  new  appraisement  were  a  necessity. 
Then,  again,  the  sufferings  of  their  parents, 
wives,  and  friends,  who  are  counted  by  mil- 
lions, have  helped  humanity  to  focus  its  atten- 
tion upon  the  higher  and  nobler  ideals.  These 
have  crystallized  into  a  demand  for  the  wider 


THE  FUTURE  OF  KOREA  17S 

scope  of  democracy  and  the  fuller  application 
of  its  principles.  This  is  not  only  true  in 
America  and  Europe,  but  there  is  also  in  the 
Far  East  a  rising  tide  of  democracy,  which  in 
time  will  sweep  away  every  obstacle  before  it. 

China  took  up  the  democratic  form  of 
government  some  years  ago,  but  she  is  now 
experiencing  a  new  democratic  spirit,  in  which 
the  younger  men  and  women  figure  very 
largely.  They  have  come  to  see  that  the 
danger  confronting  them  is  real  and  that  they 
need  to  busy  themselves.  Their  immediate 
political  fortune  is  secondary  in  importance. 
They  may  or  may  not  succeed  in  the  things 
they  try  to  accomplish,  but  the  spirit  they  have 
wakened  in  themselves  and  in  others  is  some- 
thing permanent,  and  that  spirit  knows  only 
one  goal  toward  which  to  travel,  and  that  is 
Success.  It  momentarily  may  experience  re- 
tardation, or  it  may  at  times  receive  even  an 
actual  setback,  but  ultimately  it  will  reach 
the  goal. 

The  democratic  movement  is  also  gaining 
its  momentum  in  Japan,  especially  among  the 
younger  intellectuals,  such  as  Professor  Yoshino 
and  his  associates,  and  among  the  industrial 
class.  Such  associations  as  the  Democratic 
League  are  being  formed  and  fostered  in  Kioto, 
Osaka,  and  elsewhere.     In  spite  of  the  police 


174         THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

interferences,  the  organizations  grow,  and  their 
publications  increase  in  circulation. 

The  high  cost  of  living  prevailing  in  that 
country  as  elsewhere  is  also  hastening  this 
movement.  Even  school-teachers  talk  about 
going  on  "strike,"  and  the  salaried  men  have 
formed  unions.  They  demand  "that  net  profit 
be  divided  between  capital  and  labor  equally, 
after  an  amount  equal  to  bank  interest  on  the 
capital  has  been  deducted  and  given  to  the 
capitalist."  True  to  the  time-honored  pater- 
nalism, the  government  tries  to  organize  labor 
unions  under  the  patronage  of  the  state  and 
capital,  but  the  workers  have  begun  to  take 
their  own  initiatives.  They  have  organized 
what  is  called  the  Nippon  Rodo  Rengo  Kai, 
or  the  "Japan  Associated  Labor  Society." 
The  women  of  Japan  also  are  taking  their 
place.  At  a  recent  meeting  a  factory  girl 
said  in  effect: 

"Labor  is  the  most  serious  problem  in  Japan 
at  present,  and  so  a  number  of  learned  men, 
politicians,  statesmen,  capitalists,  and  others, 
are  trying  to  solve  this  serious  problem  by  the 
application  of  various  principles;  but  I  think 
we  ought  to  find  the  solution  ourselves. 

"The  workers  must  hasten  to  participate  in 
corporations.  According  to  the  investigation 
made  by  the  Department  of  Agriculture  and 


THE  FUTURE  OF  KOREA  175 

Commerce,  in  1916,  there  were  four  hundred 
and  fifty-eight  thousand  male  workers  and  six 
hundred  and  thirty-eight  thousand  female 
workers  in  Japan  in  that  year.  The  problem 
regarding  female  workers,  which  must  naturally 
be  serious,  is  far  behind  that  regarding  the 
male  workers  in  the  consideration  it  receives. 
As  we  women  get  a  wage  for  our  work  just 
as  men  do,  we  are  right  in  striving  to  elevate 
our  position.  Therefore  this  society  cries  for 
cooperation  and  union." 

Of  course,  while  this  need  not  be  taken  as 
an  evidence  and  expression  of  a  generally 
awakened  social  consciousness,  it  is  a  clear 
indication  of  the  direction  which  the  mind 
of  the  Japanese  men  and  women  will  take 
when  the  general  awakening  once  is  experienced. 

Then  it  must  be  kept  in  mind  that  there  is 
in  Japan  a  Christian  element  that  is  as  yet  com- 
paratively small  in  number  but  fearless  in  spirit 
and  growing  in  vigor  and  influence  quite  rapidly. 
The  devotion  of  Christians  to  their  faith  has 
been  historically  demonstrated,  and  their  fair- 
mindedness  was  brought  to  the  surface  in 
connection  with  the  Korean  uprising. 

When  the  news  of  the  military  atrocities 
began  to  leak  out  of  the  country  the  Federa- 
tion of  Churches  in  Japan  sent  a  deputation 
to  Korea  together  with  a  similar  one  of  the 


176         THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

Federated  Missions  of  the  foreign  missionaries 
for  investigation.  When  they  returned  one 
member  of  the  Japanese  deputation  reported 
the  whole  thing  without  fear  or  attempt  at 
mitigation  before  a  large  gathering  in  Tokyo. 
Here  is  a  part  of  what  a  foreigner  who  was 
present  at  the  meeting  describes: 

"I  went  to  church,  wondering  just  what  the 
speaker  would  do.  I  confess  that  I  was  afraid 
that  he  would  make  a  colorless  speech.  ...  I 
prayed  hard  that  the  Lord  would  make  him 
bold,  but  now  I  feel  sure  that  he  never  needed 
my  prayers  at  all. 

"In  the  first  part  of  his  speech  he  told  about 
the  reasons  for  the  discontent  of  the  Korean 
people — the  educational  discrimination,  the 
land  question,  the  police  and  gendarme  system, 
the  incubus  of  hateful  militarism  everywhere, 
even  in  the  schools;  the  difficulty  of  educated 
Koreans  to  advance  in  any  field  of  activity; 
the  constant  police  surveillance,  even  over 
Koreans  here  in  Japan.  He  said  that  the 
Japanese  residing  in  Korea  were  almost  as 
dissatisfied  as  the  Koreans  with  the  present 
administration  of  affairs  there. 

"Then  he  drew  a  vivid  contrast  between  the 
attitude  of  the  missionaries  toward  the  Koreans 
and  the  attitude  of  the  Japanese  over  there. 
He  told  about  the  intelligent  sympathy  of  the 


THE  FUTURE  OF  KOREA  177 

missionaries  as  contrasted  with  the  harshness 
of  the  Japanese,  and  said  that  it  was  natural 
that  the  Koreans  went  to  the  missionaries  in 
their  troubles  and  depended  upon  them.  They 
had  no  freedom  of  publication,  and  their  only 
intelligent  means  of  communication  among 
themselves  or  with  the  outside  world  was 
through  the  missionaries. 

"Then  he  started  in  to  tell  about  the  atroc- 
ities. He  told  them  all,  and  he  told  them  from 
the  Korean  standpoint,  and  with  no  excuse 
or  whitewash  or  palliation  for  the  government. 
He  told  the  story  of  the  massacres  in  the  church 
in  detail  and  in  the  village  too.  He  added 
the  fact,  which  I  had  not  heard  before,  that 
the  Governor-General  had  given  1,500  yen  out 
of  his  own  pocket  for  the  rebuilding  of  that 
and  other  churches.  Then  he  told  about  the 
floggings  in  jail  and  the  treatment  of  women, 
and  all  the  rest.  His  voice  broke  in  trying 
to  tell  it,  and  he  could  hardly  continue  the 
story  of  the  sufferings  the  Korean  people  had  en- 
dured. You  can  imagine  the  condition  of  our 
eyes  who  listened.  Then  he  ended  with  a 
very  fine  religious  outburst,  saying  with  broken 
voice  that  if  the  Japanese  officials  and  the 
Japanese  people  had  the  love  of  the  God  of 
the  New  Testament  in  their  hearts  such  things 
could  not  have  happened. 


178         THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

"The  whole  service  was  one  of  the  greatest 
Christian  services  I  have  ever  been  in.  My 
confidence  in  the  genuineness  of  the  Japanese 
Christian  Church  has  risen  high." 

These  growing  forces  in  Japan — the  new 
intellectuals,  the  restless  industrial  class,  and 
the  conscientious  Christians — are  fast  converg- 
ing to  something  definite  and  eventful.  They 
all  hate  militarism,  they  all  are  enemies  of 
bureaucracy,  and  they  all  either  by  choice  or 
by  force  of  circumstances  espouse  the  cause  of 
democracy.  It  may  need  a  crisis  for  them  to 
join  hands  to  work  for  a  common  cause,  but 
their  meeting  ground  does  not  seem  to  lie  very 
far  hence. 

When  we  come  back  to  Korea,  what  con- 
ditions do  we  find?  Have  they  been  "dis- 
illusioned," as  some  people  would  call  it,  or 
are  they  just  as  eager  and  just  as  hopeful 
about  their  cause  now  as  they  were  before? 
They  are  neither  "disillusioned"  nor  just  as 
eager  and  hopeful,  but  they  are  more  eager  and 
hopeful  than  they  were  ever  before.  Here  is 
a  part  of  a  report  of  Dr.  J.  Z.  Moore,  superin- 
tendent of  the  Methodist  work  in  Pyeng  Yang 
District,  where  the  storm  raged  fiercely.  The 
resolve  and  the  determination  of  the  Chris- 
tians is  quite  illustrative  of  the  whole  move- 
ment: 


THE  FUTURE  OF  KOREA  179 

In  the  midst  of  this  darkness,  with  fear  and 
trembling,  I  decided  to  call  a  workers'  con- 
ference. The  call  went  out  to  the  workers 
who  remained.  To  my  surprise  a  total  of 
fifty-six  came  to  the  meeting. 

"Our  first  hour  was  spent  in  prayer  and 
meditation  on  'Have  Faith  in  God.'  It  was 
a  great  hour  and  got  us  back  to  bed  rock. 
Then  we  called  the  roll  and  found  who  were 
present  and  who  absent  from  the  district.  The 
following  facts  were  brought  to  light:  Seven 
of  our  ordained  preachers,  fifteen  local 
preachers,  nineteen  exhorters,  twenty  class  lead- 
ers, one  district  steward,  thirteen  men  and 
three  women  school-teachers,  three  students, 
and  sixty  members  were  in  jail  on  account  of 
the  independence  movement.  This  is  a  total 
of  one  hundred  and  forty  of  our  leading  workers 
and  members.  One  had  been  killed  and  three 
were  still  in  the  hospital  on  account  of  wounds 
received. 

"After  this  report  on  the  situation  we  had 
another  session  of  prayer.  Then  came  an 
effort  to  care  for  the  work.  For  instance, 
Pyeng  Yang  City,  with  five  churches  and 
formerly  six  ordained  pastors,  was  without  a 
single  pastor.  Some  country  sections  were  un- 
touched, and  others  were  all  shot  to  pieces,  the 
congregations  not  having  met  for  three  months. 


180         THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

The  problem  was  to  cover  the  work  with  the 
fragments  that  remained.  In  fact,  that  was 
the  subject  of  the  Korean  pastors'  talk  at  the 
beginning  of  this  session.  Such  a  spirit  of 
unity,  of  unselfishness,  of  willingness  to  give  up 
for  the  good  of  the  whole  work  I  never  have 
experienced  among  the  Korean  workers.  One 
of  the  country  circuits  willingly  gave  up  its 
pastor  for  Pyeng  Yang  City,  and  he  was  given 
the  work  six  men  formerly  did. 

"There  was  a  tenseness,  an  earnestness,  a 
reality  about  it  all  I  never  had  experienced 
before.  Plans  for  the  summer  campaign  were 
made,  including  the  summer  workers'  con- 
ference, for  the  first  week  in  August,  and  we 
closed  one  of  the  best  workers'  conferences  ever 
held  on  Pyeng  Yang  District. 

"Even  the  men  in  prison  are  not  idle.  One 
pastor  reports  that  he  is  in  a  room  with  nine- 
teen. At  first  there  were  but  three  Christians. 
Now  they  are  all  Christians  and  have  service 
in  their  cell.  One  boy,  a  student,  said  it  had 
meant  more  to  him  than  a  year  of  study. 

"Whatever  may  or  may  not  come  of  this 
independence  movement,  it  has  opened  the 
minds  and  hearts  of  the  Korean  people  as 
fifty  years  of  ordinary  days  could  not  have 
done.  Never  have  I  preached  to  such  eager,  ear- 
nest congregations.     The  new  day  is  upon  us." 


THE  FUTURE  OF  KOREA  181 

The  effect  or,  rather,  noneffect,  of  torture 
and  imprisonment  upon  the  young  men  and 
women  can  be  seen  in  the  testimonies  of  those 
who  were  released  during  last  summer.  The 
following  is  one  given  by  a  young  lady,  who  is 
a  college  graduate  and  a  teacher  in  one  of  the 
Christian  schools  in  Seoul  (in  her  own  English) : 

"On  Mar.  12th,  accompanied  by  Miss , 

I  was  taken  to  police  headquarters  and  ques- 
tioned.   Miss was  compelled  to  leave  me 

there  and  I  did  not  see  her  again  until  June 
16th.  As  long  as  I  live,  I  shall  not  forget  that 
one  look,  neither  shall  I  ever  cease  to  remember 
my  feelings  when  the  first  meal  came  in  bearing 
her  name,  as  I  was  practically  starving  after 
nine  days  of  prison  fare  which  I  could  scarcely 
eat  at  all.  Yes,  I  have  known  what  it  is  to  be 
hungry,  and  cold,  and  the  utter  torture  of 
inactivity. 

"After  more  than  a  month  of  sitting  in  an 
uncomfortable  position  with  absolutely  nothing 
to  read  and  no  one  to  speak  to,  nothing  to  see, 
I  received  with  joy  unspeakable  a  copy  of  the 
New  Testament  in  my  own  tongue.  I  read  it 
thru  in  two  and  a  half  days,  then  read  it  again, 
and  memorized  Matt.  5,  1  and  II  Samuel, 
and  the  Psalms.  I  read  twice,  memorizing 
Psalms  1,  23,  and  121,  also  David's  bow  song. 

"I  never  knew  before  what  the  Bible  could 


182  THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

mean  to  a  human  being,  and  God  was  my 
one  hope,  my  all.  My  constant  prayer  was: 
'Thy  kingdom  come.  Thy  will  be  done  on 
earth  as  it  is  in  Heaven.'  My  first  Sunday 
there,  when  I  heard  some  one  sing,  'Nearer, 
my  God,  to  Thee,'  it  was  like  a  river  of  peace 
flowing  into  my  soul,  and  I  knew  all  was  well, 
if  we  only  have  His  presence  and  comfort. 
Many  times  every  day  I  sang  T  hear  my 
Saviour  calling,'  and  knew  that  he  would  wgo 
with  me  all  the  way.' 

"July  3rd  I  received  an  English  Bible,  which 
was  a  real  feast  to  my  soul  until  I  was  released. 
For  eight  days  I  read  eleven  hours  a  day, 
almost  ruining  my  eyes.  I  read  much  of  the 
Old  Testament  and  all  of  the  New  in  the 
language  which  lends  such  beauty  to  God's 
Word. 

"The  only  other  book  given  me  was  a  book 
of  the  Chinese  Classics.  I  memorized  ten 
pages  of  this. 

"When  not  reading  I  often  occupied  myself 
composing  descriptions,  in  prose  and  poetry,  of 
my  life  in  prison,  and,  by  recording  in  my 
mind  my  inspirations  from  nature  and  friends, 
I  memorized  these  and  am  now  putting  them 
into  written  form. 

"I  found  what  a  wonderful  faculty  memory 
is,  and  got  not  only  comfort  but  amusement 


THE  FUTURE  OF  KOREA  183 

from  recalling  past  experiences  and  impres- 
sions. God  has  been  wonderfully  good  to  me, 
and  I  only  love  Him  the  more  because  of  these 
experiences. 

"I  was  kept  in  prison  133  days  and,  when 
released  on  July  28th  was  told  I  had  broken 
no  law." 

The  following  was  composed  in  English  while 
in  prison: 

"When  I  was  shut  up  in  prison  I  was  troubled, 
worried,  and  lonely.  I  felt  like  one  being 
thrown  into  the  wide,  deep  ocean,  and  also 
like  a  wanderer  in  the  desert.  The  dark  clouds 
of  sorrow  were  around  me  and  no  earthly  friend 
could  help  me.    I  was  merely  helpless. 

"But  suddenly  a  hopeful  sound  rang  thru 
my  ear.  It  was  a  sweet,  tender  voice  saying, 
'Trust  the  Lord.'  I  bowed  my  head  amid  the 
darkness  around  me  and  prayed:  'Father,  I 
trust  Thee  only.  "Throw  out  the  lifeline" 
and  save  me  while  I  am  drowning  in  the  ocean, 
and  show  me  the  way  while  I  am  wandering 
in  the  desert.  Come  and  stay  with  me  when 
I  am  so  lonely  and  friendless.  Give  me  Thy 
perfect  peace.  Father,  I  need  Thy  love,  sym- 
pathy, and  care  more  than  ever  before.  With 
Thee  all  things  are  possible;  I  just  trust  Thee 
and  obey  Thee.     Amen.' 

"When  I  prayed,  thru  the  darkness  I  saw 


184  THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

Christ  kneeling  in  Gethsemane,  and  Calvary, 
where  Jesus  hung  on  the  cross  and  shed  His 
blood  for  me.  I  felt  as  if  I  were  standing  be- 
neath the  cross,  and  prayed  again:  'I  give  my 
life  to  Thee  for  my  own  Chosen  people.  I'll 
be  true  to  Thee  forever.' 

"All  my  troubles  were  gone;  and  His  peace 
was  in  my  heart.  0,  how  sweet  it  is  to  trust 
the  Lord!  No  matter  what  comes  to  my  life, 
even  tho  death  comes  to  me,  I'll  be  happy 
and  at  peace,  if  I  only  trust  Him.  These 
three  words,  'Trust  the  Lord,'  are  my  life. 
They  will  lead  me  to  the  throne  of  God,  my 
Father." 

What  has  been  described,  interpreted,  and 
said  in  the  foregoing  brief  chapters  leads  one's 
mind  to  the  following  considerations  regarding 
the  course  before  the  Korean  people: 

When  Korea  first  fell  into  misfortune  there 
were  discernible  three,  or  perhaps  only  two, 
steps  on  her  course  toward  her  coming  to  her 
own.  Those  steps,  as  it  seemed,  might  or 
might  not  synchronize  with  visible  political 
changes.  The  fortune  of  immediate  activities 
might  hasten  or  retard  the  steps,  but  the  steps 
could  not  be  arrested  by  friend  or  foe. 

The  steps  discerned  are  none  other  than  the 
stages  in  the  irresistible  upward  movement  of 


THE  FUTURE  OF  KOREA  185 

the  psychology  of  a  people.  Just  as  water 
seeks  its  own  level,  the  forces  of  modern  civil- 
ization permeate  the  thoughts  of  individuals, 
then  of  groups,  and  then  of  society.  When  a 
principle  has  a  merit  of  being  right  and  just, 
it  takes  root,  grows,  and  bears  fruit.  A  tyrant 
now  and  then  or  a  despot  here  and  there  makes 
futile  efforts  to  extirpate  it,  but  always  fails 
in  the  end.  Otherwise,  evolution  is  an  im- 
possibility and  the  universe  is  a  black  chaos. 

The  first  step  for  the  Korean  people  ap- 
peared to  be  the  social  consciousness.  It  does 
not  mean  that  it  had  been  totally  lacking,  but 
for  centuries  there  were  no  occasions  for  them 
to  bring  it  out  into  prominence.  Hunger 
feeling  is  physiologically  in  every  human  be- 
ing, but  one  does  not  feel  it  until  one  expe- 
riences hunger  itself.  In  their  homogeneous, 
but  isolated,  life  this  consciousness  of  the 
Koreans  existed  in  a  latent  state.  But,  thanks 
to  the  sufferings  and  humiliation,  they  are 
awakened  to  it — much  sooner  than  any  prophet 
could  have  predicted.  Their  rigorous  measures 
of  forcible  assimilation  have  produced  the 
opposite  effect. 

Since  it  has  come  into  bemg,  It  will  grow; 
it  has  grown  already.  What  do  the  Pyeng 
Yang  report  and  the  touching  words  of  the 
young  woman  quoted  above  indicate  except- 


186         THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

ing  this  growth?  This  process  of  growth  and 
maturity  will  steadily  go  on.  A  sudden  lib- 
eration of  the  cumulative  democratic  forces  in 
Japan  may  furnish  the  second  step  to  the 
Koreans,  but  this  may  come  simultaneously 
with  the  final  step,  which  will  mean  the  fullest 
realization  of  the  ideals  of  the  Koreans. 

What  is  this  final  step  going  to  be?  Before 
answering  that,  let  us  take  an  account  of  the 
world's  growing  interest  in  the  Orient.  Take, 
for  instance,  the  case  of  China.  Will  the 
interest  of  Great  Britain,  France,  the  United 
States  and  other  great  Powers  be  best  served 
by  partitioning  China?  Partitioning  means  the 
sowing  of  seed  for  immediate  troubles  among 
those  nations  that  take  share,  and  it  will  end 
in  a  sure  disaster  to  all  the  Occidental  nations. 
Therefore,  to  keep  one  out  they  all  will  try 
to  keep  out,  at  least  for  the  time  being.  This 
is  China's  opportunity,  and  apparently  she  is 
taking  it.  Then,  again,  when  all  nations  are 
decrying  militaristic  imperialism,  can  any  one 
power  long  maintain  it  single-handed?  When 
democratic  spirit  is  growing  everywhere,  can 
any  one  group  of  militarists  forever  stifle  it? 
It  is,  therefore,  certain  that  the  growing  in- 
telligence on  the  part  of  the  Occidental  na- 
tions in  Oriental  affairs,  the  awakening  of 
China,  and  the  rise  of  democracy  in  the  peo- 


THE  FUTURE  OF  KOREA  187 

pies  of  the  East  will  all  come   together   to  a 
climax.     That  climax  is  the  final  great   step. 

The  processes  leading  to  the  climax  may 
take  the  shape  of  a  slow  and  gradual  evolu- 
tion, or  they  may  assume  a  very  sudden  and 
violent  character.  Results  will  depend  largely 
upon  the  foresight  of  the  statesmen  who  are 
at  the  helm  of  affairs  of  the  nations  of  the 
world.  It  usually  is  credited  that  the  states- 
men of  Japan,  when  they  see  an  approaching 
crisis,  meet  it  by  going  one  better.  Will  they 
do  it  in  this  case? 

Whatever  the  maneuvering  of  each  group  of 
statesmen  may  be,  it  is  certain  that  the  spirit 
of  democracy  will  triumph,  and  in  that  tri- 
umph Korea  will  have  a  share.  By  her  worth 
manifested  and  acknowledged,  she  will  get 
justice — full  justice.  In  that  full  justice  Korea 
will  become  free  from  all  bonds  but  the  love 
for  humanity,  and  will  endeavor  to  bring 
spiritual  and  material  blessing,  particularly  the 
former,  upon  the  other  peoples  in  the  Orient. 
Her  progress  and  unselfish  service  to  the  other 
peoples  will  spell  true  peace  in  the  Orient, 
and  the  world.  Statesmen  may  come  and 
statesmen  may  go,  but  the  ideals  of  the  Korean 
people  will  be  realized,  because  their  faith 
and  hope  are  in  the  "Invisible  King"  and  their 
love  is  for  humanity! 


APPENDICES 


AN  OPINION  OF  MISSIONARIES  AS  TO 

WHAT  CHANGES  ARE  DESIRABLE 

IN  THE  EXISTING  LAWS  AND 

IN  THE  ATTITUDE  OF  THE 

GOVERNMENT      TOWARD 

THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH 

AND    MISSION   WORK 

IN  KOREA 

From  the  time  disturbances  began  on  March 
first  the  opinion  has  been  freely  expressed 
that  the  Japanese  government  would  adopt  a 
different  and  more  liberal  policy  in  Korea. 
The  highest  officials  in  Korea  have  repeatedly 
said  that  modifications  were  necessary,  and, 
indeed,  that  they  were  in  contemplation  when 
the  revolt  began.  Officials  and  publicists  in 
Japan  also,  in  public  speech  and  through  the 
press,  have  urged  the  necessity  of  making 
radical  changes  in  the  Japanese  policy  in 
Korea.  The  present  official  opinion  seems  to 
be  that  Korea  should  be  bound  to  Japan  by 
other  than  physical  force,  and  that  a  confi- 
dence should  be  created,  which  would  con- 
vince the  Korean  people  that  it  is  to  their 
interest  to  be  a  part  of  the  Japanese  empire. 

191 


192         THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

We  may  assume,  therefore,  that  questions 
touching  changes  in  the  present  policy  of 
administration  soon  will  be  open  for  discus- 
sion in  concrete  form.  Mission  Boards  oper- 
ating in  Korea  and  missionaries  engaged  in 
work  there  will  be  vitally  interested  in  these 
changes  and  especially  in  such  as  affect  their 
special  field.  It  would  seem  proper,  therefore, 
for  those  related  to  the  missionary  enterprises 
in  Korea  to  study  the  situation  as  it  affects 
their  interests  and  formulate  suggested  changes 
that  look  to  relief  at  any  point  where  their 
work  may  have  been  improperly  hindered  or 
interfered  with. 

In  presenting  this  statement  with  its  sug- 
gestions for  change  in  governmental  regulations 
or  policy,  we  do  so  with  the  idea  of  securing 
real  religious  liberty  in  Korea  under  whatever 
government  may  exist;  but  in  no  sense  do 
we  presume  to  interfere  in  the  political  situa- 
tion or  in  the  effort  for  independence  now  being 
carried  on  by  the  Koreans.  We  are  not  pro- 
posing anything  in  the  nature  of  a  settlement 
of  that  question,  or  anything  which  may  be 
suggestive  of  a  settlement  of  the  political  de- 
sires of  the  Korean  people.  What  we  present 
is  a  statement  of  our  own  opinion  as  to  what 
is  called  for  under  any  government  in  order  to 
secure  real  religious  liberty  and  freedom  for  the 


APPENDICES  193 

church   to   develop,  without  being   directly  or 
indirectly  hampered  by  the  government. 

We  Urge  That  Religious  Liberty,  Which  is 
Already  Guaranteed  by  the  Constitution  of  the 
Empire  of  Japan,  as  of  All  Other  Great  Na- 
tions, be  Made  Effective. 

Ten  years'  experience  under  the  rule  of  the 
government-general  of  Korea  has  proved  to  us 
conclusively  that  real  religious  liberty  cannot 
be  enjoyed  under  the  laws  as  now  adminis- 
tered. The  reason  for  this  is  that  religious 
liberty  is  not  possible  where  the  government 
insists  upon  regulating  the  minutest  details  of 
the  church.  The  requirement  that  all  sorts 
of  exacting  reports  be  made  by  the  church, 
mission,  church  schools,  and  mission  hospitals 
implies  that  freedom  is  not  intended,  but 
that  the  government  reserves  the  right  to 
interfere  in  the  management  of  the  church  and 
mission  whenever  it  desires  to  do  so. 

The  intricate  rules  and  regulations  applying 
to  evangelistic,  educational,  and  medical  work, 
the  censorship  and  curtailment  placed  upon 
the  publication  of  religious  literature,  the 
restrictions  so  often  placed  upon  the  freedom 
of  assembly  even  for  religious  purposes,  are  all 
contrary  to  the  idea  of  religious  liberty. 

Moreover,  the  multitudinous  ways  the  police 
have    of    injecting    their    presence    upon    the 


194         THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

church  and  the  mission,  of  arrogating  to  them- 
selves the  right  to  dictate  as  to  what  is  allowed 
and  what  is  forbidden,  is  contrary  to  the  spirit 
of  religious  liberty. 

The  changes  which  we  herein  suggest  in  the 
interest  of  the  missionary  enterprise,  are  made 
with  the  hope  that  the  government  will  adopt 
a  more  liberal  policy,  granting  religious  liberty 
in  fact  as  well  as  in  form. 

In  Regard  to  Our  Evangelistic  Work  We 

Respectfully  Request: 

1.  That  fewer  restrictions  be  placed  upon  the 
church  and  upon  missionaries. 

The  propagation  of  the  gospel  is  continually 
hindered.  Christian  workers  are  interfered 
with  when  attempting  to  preach  by  the  road- 
side, on  the  street,  and  in  the  market  places. 
The  distribution  of  scriptures  and  tracts  is 
often  stopped.  Groups  are  prevented  from 
meeting  for  worship  in  Christian  homes  on  the 
ground  that  they  do  not  have  a  permit.  Per- 
mits are  required  before  organizing  a  church 
or  preaching  place.  A  permit  must  also  be 
secured  before  erecting  or  altering  a  church 
building.  These  permits  are  delayed,  or  even 
refused,  much  to  the  detriment  of  our  work. 
Even  Bible  classes,  evangelistic  services,  and 
meetings  of  church  officers  are  not  free  from 


APPENDICES  195 

needless  restrictions  and  unwarranted  inter- 
ferences. Missionaries  in  their  travels  are 
watched  constantly  and  often  needlessly  inter- 
fered with  by  officials.  The  arrival  of  each 
foreign  guest  must  be  reported  within  a  day's 
time;  under  this  law,  if  an  itinerating  mission- 
ary does  not  stop  within  easy  reach  of  a  gen- 
darmsie,  he  causes  his  Korean  host  great 
inconvenience. 

The  result  of  such  restrictions  is  hampering, 
and  we  request  that  they  be  removed,  in  order 
that  the  propagation  of  Christianity  be  not 
curtailed  by  such  limiting  regulations. 

2.  We  ask  that  discrimination  against  Chris- 
tians and  against  Christianity  by  the  officials 
be  not  allowed. 

It  has  often  happened  that  people  arrested 
have  been  held  in  custody  if  they  are  Chris- 
tians and  let  go  if  they  are  not.  Reports  from 
those  who  have  been  in  prison  give  abundant 
proof  that  those  who  are  Christian  are  more 
severely  beaten  than  those  who  are  not,  that 
they  are  mocked  by  nonbelieving  officials,  who 
say  slighting,  insulting  things  about  Christian- 
ity and  about  the  foreign  missionaries.  Teach- 
ers in  many  government  schools  forbid  or  dis- 
courage their  pupils  from  attending  Christian 
Sunday  schools. 

We  also  deprecate  the  fact  that  newspapers 


196         THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

are  permitted  to  persistently  publish  false  and 
unfounded  charges  against  missionaries  and 
Korean  Christians.  The  effect  is  to  create 
prejudice  in  the  minds  of  the  people  against 
Christianity. 

3.  We  ash  that  officials  do  not  depreciate  the  char- 
acter  of  the  church  nor  the  ability  of  church  officers. 

This  attitude  is  not  uncommon  on  the  part 
of  officials  in  their  public  addresses  and  in 
their  writings.  They  publicly  suggest  that  we 
place  emphasis  on  numbers  rather  than  the 
intelligence  of  Christians,  and  they  further 
insist  that  church  officers  are  not  sufficiently 
well  educated.  Christianity  is  not  primarily  a 
matter  of  education,  but  of  belief  in  God  and 
in  Jesus  Christ  his  Son  as  the  Saviour  of  the 
world,  and  in  the  Bible  as  the  Word  of  God, 
together  with  upright  living  corresponding  to 
such  a  belief.  Whether  the  believer  is  edu- 
cated or  ignorant,  rich  or  poor,  high  or  low, 
is  not  of  primary  importance.  The  history  of 
the  Christian  movement  in  any  country  shows 
that  there  is  always  a  trend  toward  education 
and  toward  the  training  up  of  an  educated 
leadership.  This  has  been  true  in  Korea. 
Christian  women  have  learned  to  read,  schools 
have  been  established  for  boys,  for  girls,  for 
young  men  and  women,  for  church  leaders. 
Officials  should  recognize  and  appreciate  this. 


APPENDICES  197 

It  is  not  fair  for  them  to  intimate  that  Korean 
Christians  and  church  officers  are  ignorant  and 
by  so  doing  depreciate  the  character  of  the 
church. 

4.  We  ask  that  the  government  encourage  the 
right  of  petition  and  complaint. 

That  missionaries  and  Korean  Christians  be 
made  to  feel  that  they  are  at  liberty  to  report 
to  the  government  any  grievance  against  local 
officials,  or  to  make  request  for  change  or 
leniency  in  applying  the  existing  laws,  with- 
out being  regarded  as  offenders,  and  without 
fear  that  the  authorities  will  assume  an  un- 
friendly attitude  toward  the  petitioners. 

5.  We  request  freedom  from  annoyance  from 
petty  officials. 

This  takes  the  form  of  intimidating  Koreans 
to  prevent  them  from  becoming  Christians;  of 
troubling  church  members  with  all  sorts  of 
questions  in  connection  with  the  visit  of  a 
missionary;  of  unnecessary  and  annoying  inter- 
views with  our  lady  missionaries  while  itiner- 
ating; of  forbidding  Christians  for  inadequate 
reasons  from  holding  their  regular  church 
services;  of  calling  out  Christians  to  work  on 
the  road  and  to  meet  officials  on  Sunday;  of 
local  police  assuming  that  they  have  the  right 
to  control  the  churches.  We  deprecate  the 
custom  of  sending   officials   and   plain-clothes 


198         THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

men  to  our  church  services;  but  if  this  is  deemed 
necessary,  we  request  that  the  officials  sent 
do  not  in  any  way  interfere  with  the  regular 
church  service,  and  while  later  reporting  all 
that  they  saw  and  heard,  do  it  without  mis- 
representation and  prejudice. 

6.  That  the  system  of  reporting  be  abolished 
or  simplified. 

The  application  of  the  law  for  reporting 
churches  and  propagandists  as  applied  at 
present  is  a  serious  embarrassment  to  the 
prosecution  of  our  missionary  work  and  is  an 
annoyance  to  both  missionaries  and  to  church 
officials.  Long  delays  occur  between  the  time 
of  presenting  the  application  for  the  registra- 
tion of  a  church  and  the  granting  of  recog- 
nition by  the  government.  According  to  the 
law,  no  service  can  be  held  till  such  recognition 
is  granted;  thus  under  certain  circumstances  a 
congregation  is  denied  church  privileges  for 
months.  The  police  will  not  permit  the  erec- 
tion of  a  church  building  till  recognition  is 
granted  by  the  government,  so  that  serious 
delays  occur  in  building  construction  which  in- 
volves financial  loss  to  both  the  mission  and 
to  the  contractor.  These  delays  are  frequently 
caused  by  the  local  officials  insisting  that  the 
proposed  new  building  is  not  needed,  sup- 
porting their  arguments  by  the  statement  that 


APPENDICES  199 

other  church  buildings  are  already  erected  in 
the  city  or  section,  and  also  that  there  are 
not  numerically  enough  Christians  to  warrant 
the  erection  of  a  church  building. 

Greater  leniency  should  be  granted  churches 
that  for  valid  reasons  fail  to  report  on  time, 
and  in  case  reports  are  returned.  As  it  is, 
fines  are  threatened,  and  church  officers  are 
frightened.  The  failure  on  the  part  of  the 
propagandist  is  not  from  a  lack  of  willingness 
but  from  uncertainty  as  to  the  requirements, 
and  also  from  the  lack  of  uniformity  of  de- 
mands on  the  part  of  local  officials.  We  meet 
the  difficulty  of  having  men  refuse  to  hold 
office  in  the  church  for  the  sole  reason  that 
they  are  embarrassed  by  the  responsibility  of 
having  to  make  these  reports. 

Again,  the  method  of  registration  of  prop- 
agandists opens  the  way  for  continual  espion- 
age on  the  part  of  the  police  which  results  in 
intimidating  the  pastor,  church  officials,  and 
members  of  the  congregation  and  prevents 
non-Christians  from  entering  the  church;  thus 
the  zest  and  spirit  of  our  Christian  people 
have  been  greatly  impaired  by  the  present 
application  of  the  law  of  making  reports  of 
churches  and  of  propagandists. 

7.  We  ash  reparation  for  church  'property  that 
has  been  destroyed. 


200         THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

We  request  that  the  burning  of  all  churches 
and  the  destruction  of  church  property  in  the 
recent  disturbances  be  looked  into  by  the 
government,  and  if  in  any  case  the  damage  was 
done  by  soldiers,  police,  or  gendarmes,  or  by 
others  with  their  knowledge,  or  connivance, 
that  the  government  make  restitution  for  the 
property  and  buildings  destroyed. 

We  ask  that  in  the  investigation  the  govern- 
ment depend  not  only  upon  reports  from  offi- 
cials but  that  also  evidence  be  obtained  from 
missionaries,  Korean  Christians,  and  others. 

In  Regard  to  Medical  Work: 

1.  That  the  details  of  the  management  of  our 
hospitals  be  left  to  the  staff  without  interference 
from  officials. 

The  chief  governmental  difficulties  we  have 
had  to  contend  with  have  been  caused  by 
what  we  regard  as  an  overdemand  in  the  way 
of  minute  reporting  concerning  matters  which 
we  think  should  be  left  to  those  in  charge  of 
our  hospital,  and  these  are  retained  in  the  new 
regulations  which  went  into  effect  June  1, 1919. 

In  special  we  may  refer  to  Sections  2  and 
3  of  Article  XVII,  which  require  reports: 

(2)  When  making  or  changing  hospital  regulations. 
(S)  When  appointing  or  dismissing  . .  .  doctors,  pharma- 
cists, midwives,  or  nurses. 


APPENDICES  201 

It  seems  to  us  that  the  regulations  of  a 
hospital  are  matters  which  the  president  and 
staff  should  be  considered  to  have  enough 
wisdom  to  determine.  They  have  to  be  fre- 
quently changed  to  meet  changing  conditions 
and  experiences,  and  no  government  officials 
are  well  enough  acquainted  with  the  condi- 
tions to  enable  them  to  decide  upon  their 
necessity  or  otherwise. 

In  regard  to  the  appointment  of  doctors, 
nurses,  etc.,  also  it  would  seem  to  us  that  the 
authorities  should  trust  the  president,  who 
naturally  will  employ  men  and  women  capable 
of  doing  the  work  satisfactorily. 

2.  That  the  application  of  the  government 
regulations  for  private  hospitals  be  uniform,  nor 
overstrict  for  the  higher  grade  and  not  too  lenient 
for  the  lower  grade. 

This  would  raise  the  general  standard  while  not 
making  it  overdifficult  for  mission  hospitals  to 
operate  with  their  limited  equipment  and  means. 

3.  That  Korean  and  Japanese  gifts  to  mission 
hospitals  be  encouraged. 

The  existing  law  is  too  stringent,  requiring 
as  it  does  a  special  permit  to  solicit  contribu- 
tions, and  in  case  the  permit  is  granted  only 
gifts  for  a  specific  purpose  in  connection  with 
the  work  of  the  hospital  may  be  solicited. 
Since  mission  hospitals  are  charity  institutions, 


THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

with  no  thought  of  profit,  gifts  to  the  general 
support  of  the  hospital  should  be  allowed 
without  special  permit.  The  existing  law  is 
so  restrictive  that  so  far  as  we  know  no  mis- 
sion hospitals  have  attempted  to  solicit  gifts 
from  Koreans  and  Japanese.  Such  gifts  are 
very  much  needed,  and,  indeed,  necessary,  if 
mission  hospitals  are  ever  to  grow  into  self- 
supporting  institutions. 

4.  That  local  officials  be  not  allowed  to  inter- 
fere with  Koreans  coming  to  our  mission  hos- 
pitals, as  occurred  in  several  places  during  the 
recent  disturbances. 

In  Regard   to   Christian  Literature  We 
Request: 

1.  That  the  censorship  be  abolished  or  else 
made  less  onerous. 

At  the  present  time  Christian  literature  in 
Korea  is  placed  at  a  disadvantage  regarding 
preparation,  production,  and  sale  by  the  re- 
strictive regulations  and  general  attitude  of  the 
Police  and  Educational  Departments  of  the 
government.  The  repressive  measures  they 
adopt  are  those  of  censorship,  confiscation,  and 
limitation  of  circulation. 

By  the  Law  of  Publication  of  1911  all  books, 
newspapers,  magazines,  and  tracts  issued  by 
foreigners  have  to  be  completely  printed  before 


APPENDICES  203 

they  can  be  submitted  to  the  police  for  in- 
spection. The  censor  declines  to  pass  on 
manuscripts.  Immediately  on  completion  two 
copies  of  every  publication  must  be  sent  to 
the  police  authorities  for  examination,  and 
must  be  in  their  hands  for  three  clear  days 
before  the  date  of  publication.  If  any  of  the 
contents  are  considered  objectionable,  the  whole 
edition  is  immediately  confiscated. 

The  close  censorship  thus  maintained  results 
in  a  loss  of  freedom  of  thought  and  expression 
on  the  part  of  the  authors.  Many  topics  can- 
not be  dealt  with  effectively  for  fear  of  being 
misunderstood  by  the  censor. 

A  tract,  How  to  Drive  Away  Devils,  was 
confiscated  because  the  police  thought  it  had 
political  significance.  Our  weekly  paper,  The 
Christian  Messenger,  has  been  confiscated  sev- 
eral times  on  the  plea  that  innocent  articles 
might  be  construed  by  disloyal  readers  into 
veiled  attacks  on  the  government. 

2.  That  we  be  not  restricted  in  our  church  news- 
papers, magazines,  and  other  publications  to  pub- 
lishing merely  church  news  and  religious  literature. 

Another  check  on  the  production  of  Chris- 
tian literature  caused  by  the  Press  Law  of 
1911  is  that  it  prohibits  the  publication  of  any 
newspaper  or  magazine  of  general  character 
without  a  government  permit.    An  application 


204  THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

made  by  the  Tract  Society  for  such  a  permit 
was  refused  without  any  reason  being  offered. 
The  only  Korean  newspapers  in  the  country 
are  under  government  control,  and  no  Korean 
magazines  of  a  general  character  are  published 
in  Korea.  The  result  of  this  regulation  is  that 
our  Christian  periodicals  have  to  confine  them- 
selves to  religious  topics  only.  News  items 
relating  to  the  war,  to  the  political  situation 
at  home  or  abroad,  or  to  ordinary  passing 
events  are  alike  prohibited. 

This  restriction  is  most  unfortunate  in 
Korea,  where  most  of  our  Christians  must 
depend  largely  upon  Christian  publications  for 
their  knowledge  of  current  events  and  for 
general  information  along  any  line  whatsoever. 

3.  That  colporteurs  and  others  engaged  in  sell- 
ing the  Bible  tracts  and  other  Christian  literature 
be  not  hindered  by  the  local  officials  from  freely 
carrying  on  their  work. 

Colporteurs  have  been  subjected  to  rough 
treatment  at  the  hands  of  the  police  and 
gendarmes.  These  officials  are  a  decided 
hindrance  to  our  work  because  of  their  arrogant 
methods  in  dealing  with  colporteurs  and  the 
irritating  way  they  have  of  following  up  pur- 
chasers to  ask  why  they  bought  the  books  and 
other  questions  which  have  the  effect  of  in- 
timidating them.     The  people  are  afraid  of 


APPENDICES  205 

the  police  and  gendarmes,  and  in  many  cases 
would  rather  not  buy  books  than  run  the 
risk  of  being  subjected  to  such  questioning. 

Colporteurs  are  frequently  followed  by  de- 
tectives in  plain  clothes,  and  when  their  pres- 
ence is  known,  as  it  usually  soon  is,  the 
colporteurs  are  hampered  in  their  work,  for 
they  do  not  know  when  a  statement  of  theirs 
may  be  misinterpreted  by  men  who  are  ig- 
norant of  Christianity  and  religious  terminology. 
Our  men  have  been  imprisoned  and  fined 
through  this  method.  An  examination  by  the 
police,  even  without  imprisonment,  is  not  a 
light  matter,  and  the  men  dread  it. 

The  attitude  of  the  police  and  gendarme, 
with  rare  exceptions,  is  that  of  those  who  are 
opposed  to  Christianity.  It  is  not  going  too 
far  to  say  that  the  police  and  gendarmes,  in  so 
far  as  their  sphere  of  influence  extends,  nullify 
to  the  people  the  benefits  of  religious  liberty 
which  is  accorded  to  them  by  the  constitution. 

In  Regard  to  Educational  Work  We  Re- 
spectfully Request: 

1.  That  we  be  allowed  to  include  the  teaching 
of  the  Bible  and  chapel  exercises  in  the  curricula 
of  our  church  schools. 

This  is  almost  universally  the  prerogative 
of  all  private  schools  in  other  countries.    The 


206         THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

purpose  of  mission  schools  is  to  give  a  liberal 
Christian  education.  We  desire  to  teach  the 
Bible  and  religion  for  the  intrinsic  value  of 
these  subjects,  and  as  the  best  means  of  train- 
ing up  law-abiding,  patriotic  citizens.  It  is 
only  fair  to  the  authorities  to  state  that  when- 
ever the  church,  missions  and  the  Mission 
Boards  submit  to.  that  part  of  the  revised 
educational  ordinance  which  excludes  the  Bible 
from  the  curricula  of  our  church  schools,  it 
is  only  under  protest.  In  the  future  our  schools 
may  continue  to  operate  under  the  restric- 
tions imposed,  but  it  always  will  be  with  the 
feeling  that  we  are  unreasonably  denied  this 
right. 

In  this  connection  also  we  wish  to  respectfully 
protest  against  the  government's  order  that 
religious  exercises  shall  not  be  allowed  as  a 
part  of  the  program  of  the  graduating  exercises 
of  our  Christian  schools.  The  effect  of  such 
restriction  is  to  belittle  the  Christian  religion 
in  the  eyes  of  the  people. 

2.  That  teaching  and  the  taking  of  examina- 
tion in  the  Korean  language  be  allowed. 

It  is  right  and  proper  that  students  should 
spend  a  reasonable  part  of  their  time  in  study- 
ing the  Japanese  language,  but  we  believe  it 
is  not  good  policy  to  forbid  the  use  of  the 
Korean  language  in  the  schools.     It  is  not 


APPENDICES  207 

reasonable  that  missionaries,  who  have  come  to 
teach  the  Korean  people  should  be  required  to 
learn  a  second  foreign  language,  which,  when 
learned,  is  foreign  to  the  people  whom  they 
are  to  teach. 

3.  That  we  be  accorded  more  liberty  in  the 
management  of  our  schools  and  freedom  from 
unnecessary  official  interference. 

We  recognize  the  government's  right  to  pass 
upon  the  record  and  qualifications  of  the 
founder  and  principal  of  our  schools  and  to 
require  proper  standards  of  efficiency  for  the 
school,  but  it  is  not  necessary,  as  is  done  at 
present,  for  the  government  to  seek  to  regulate 
the  amount  of  salary  paid  to  teachers  and 
other  minor  details;  and  to  require  reports  on 
and  approval  of  every  change  in  the  subjects 
he  is  to  teach;  nor  should  the  school  be  unable 
to  dismiss  a  teacher  without  consulting  the 
government  and  be  required  to  secure  the 
government's  approval  of  the  school  rules  which 
cover  the  ordinary  routine  of  administration; 
or  even  to  ask  permission  before  the  rate  of 
tuition  can  be  changed.  Such  methods  are 
stifling  to  progress  and  destroy  initiative, 
which  is  one  of  the  great  advantages  of  a 
private  school. 

As  to  interference  from  officials  we  may 
mention  that  they  often  urge  an  increase  in 


208  THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

teachers'  salaries  and  order  a  report  as  to  the 
amount  of  the  increase.  They  also  urge  the 
appointment  of  Japanese  principals  and  re- 
quest that  a  certain  percentage  of  the  teachers 
be  Japanese.  We  believe  that  private  schools 
should  be  free  to  have  Korean  principals  and 
teachers  and  to  do  their  work  in  various  ways, 
so  long  as  the  main  purpose  of  a  school  is  con- 
served and  efficiency  maintained. 

As  a  further  request  regarding  interference 
from  officials  we  wish  to  ask  that  no  under 
official  be  allowed  to  use  pressure  upon  Chris- 
tian parents  to  send  their  children  to  govern- 
ment rather  than  to  the  church  schools,  and 
that  non-Christian  parents  who  wish  to  send 
their  children  to  church  and  mission  schools 
be  not  opposed. 

4.  That  teachers  and  pupils  be  allowed  liberty 
of  conscience. 

Pupils  of  our  Christian  schools  are  not  in- 
frequently ordered  to  participate  in  processions 
or  other  public  demonstrations,  and  are  called 
out  to  welcome  visiting  officials  on  Sunday. 
Teachers'  examinations  are  often  held  on  that 
day.  For  conscientious  reasons  Christians  ob- 
ject to  complying  with  such  requirements. 

Furthermore,  we  wish  to  protest  against  any 
order  from  the  government  which  requires  the 
pupils  of  our  Christian  schools  to  participate 


APPENDICES  209 

in  any  ceremony  in  which  bowing  to  the 
Emperor's  picture  or  worshiping  the  Emperor 
is  a  part  of  the  program.  To  refuse  to  do  so 
is  not  an  act  of  disloyalty.  Christians  are 
taught  by  the  Word  of  God  and  by  their 
teachers  to  revere  and  obey  their  earthly 
rulers;  prayer  for  the  Emperor  and  for  those 
in  authority  is  often  a  part  of  our  worship 
on  Sunday.  But  it  is  not  possible  for  Chris- 
tians to  worship  the  Emperor  as  God,  as  the 
equal  of  God,  or  as  divine,  and  we  respectfully 
urge  that  such  a  request  be  not  made.  To 
say  that  bowing  to  the  Emperor's  picture  may 
be  regarded  by  Christians  as  merely  an  act  of 
reverence  will  not  satisfy  the  conscience  of 
many  Christians  when  the  ceremony  itself  is 
regarded  as  an  act  of  worship  by  the  general 
public  and  by  the  large  majority  of  non-Chris- 
tians participating  in  the  service. 

5.  That  Koreans  be  allowed  the  same  oppor- 
tunities for  an  education  both  as  to  length  of 
course  and  subjects  taught  as  the  Japanese  are 
allowed. 

The  present  system  seems  to  take  it  for 
granted  that  Koreans  should  not  expect  the 
same  educational  advantages  as  Japanese;  that 
they  are  not  capable  of  receiving  the  same 
training,  and  should  be  content  with  a  rudi- 
mentary or,  at  least,  a  more  elementary  knowl- 


no         THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

edge  for  the  present.  The  primary  schools' 
course  for  Japanese  is  six  years,  while  for 
Koreans  it  is  four.  English  is  required  five 
hours  a  week  in  the  Seoul  government  middle 
school  for  Japanese  boys,  while  in  the  higher 
common  school  for  Korean  boys  it  is  an  extra 
for  two  hours  a  week.  The  government  posi- 
tion seems  to  be  that  higher  education  for 
Koreans  is  largely  a  matter  for  the  future. 
This  is  unjust.  Any  implication  that  Koreans 
are  less  capable  of  receiving  or  less  desirous  of 
obtaining  an  education  is  contrary  to  the 
facts,  and  any  system  that  educates  the 
Korean  for  a  lower  grade  of  government  posi- 
tions and  a  lower  grade  of  commercial  and 
professional  occupation  is  decidedly  unfair. 

6.  That  there  be  a  less  rigid  censorship  of 
textbooks. 

Certain  textbooks  are  forbidden  for  trivial 
reasons.  History  is  taught  in  a  distorted  way. 
A  difficult  textbook  is  ruled  out  because  Korean 
teachers  and  pupils  supposedly  are  lacking  in 
the  mental  caliber  to  use  it.  Some  textbooks 
that  are  permitted  in  Japan  are  forbidden  in 
Korea.  We  ask  that  more  freedom  be  allowed 
in  the  use  of  textbooks,  that  Korean  students 
be  allowed  to  study  fully  the  history  and 
geography  of  Korea  and  of  other  countries  as 
well  as  of  Japan  proper. 


APPENDICES  211 

7.  That  'private  schools  be  allowed  to  solicit 
gifts  at  large  without  a  special  permit,  and  that 
the  government  do  not  impose  upon  private 
schools  excessive  financial  requirements. 

Koreans  should  be  allowed  to  give  freely  to 
the  support  of  recognized  schools.  It  is  im- 
possible and  unwise  to  expect  to  operate  con- 
tinually our  mission  schools  with  foreign  funds. 
Tuition  money  is  never  sufficient  to  pay  ex- 
penses. The  church  is  constantly  appealed  to. 
But  often  non-Christians  are  willing  to  help 
support  Christian  schools,  and  there  is  no 
reason  why  they  should  be  discouraged  from 
contributing,  since  the  school  is  an  institution 
for  the  good  of  the  community. 

As  to  the  second  part  of  the  request,  we  are 
in  sympathy  with  the  desire  of  the  govern- 
ment to  have  the  best  schools  possible.  But 
the  value  of  a  school  does  not  depend  primarily 
upon  the  size  of  building,  grounds,  and  material 
equipment,  but  upon  the  character  and  ability 
of  the  teachers.  If  the  government  is  satisfied 
on  these  points,  the  school  should  be  allowed 
to  continue,  even  though  the  financial  resources 
and  the  material  equipment  are  not  all  that 
is  desired,  so  long  as  there  is  a  constant 
effort  on  the  part  of  the  management  of  the 
school  to  provide  adequate  financial  sup- 
port. 


212  THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

In  Regard   to  the  Holding  op  Property 

We  Request: 

Facilities  for  the  incorporation  of  the  church 
and  of  the  missions  so  that  property  can  be  held 
and  registered  in  their  names. 

For  ten  years  we  have  made  repeated  efforts 
to  secure  such  recognition  for  the  church  and 
missions  as  judicial  persons  so  that  property 
might  be  held  securely  for  the  church,  but  so 
far  our  efforts  have  been  in  vain.  Tens  and 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  yen  worth  of  property 
is  now  registered  in  the  names  of  individuals, 
and  much  of  it  is  held  in  the  names  of  mis- 
sionaries, entailing  complications  and  annoy- 
ance and  unnecessary  expense.  The  Korean 
church  is  deprived  of  a  recognition  of  its 
rights  in  this  respect  to  such  an  extent  as  to 
constitute  a  grave  injustice. 

Under  present  conditions  local  authorities, 
unfriendly  or  antagonistic  to  the  church,  may 
easily  throw  church  property  into  litigation, 
and  whenever  disputes  over  church  property 
arise  the  rights  of  the  church  as  such  have  no 
recognition  in  the  law,  so  that  contentions  or 
disgruntled  individuals  in  whose  name  property 
may  be  held,  or  the  unbelieving  heirs  of  those 
in  whose  names  it  is  held,  in  collusion  with 
mercenary  and  dishonest  officials,  may  de- 
prive the  church  of  its  property,  and  so  far 


APPENDICES  213 

as  the   law  is   concerned   the  church  has  no 
redress. 

Again,  the  missions  have  been  refused  incor- 
poration, and  all  property  bought  since  annexa- 
tion has  been  registered  in  the  names  of  indi- 
vidual missionaries,  entailing  complications, 
difficulties,  and  expense  whenever  such  a  mis- 
sionary dies,  resigns,  or  goes  home  on  furlough. 

Concluding  Statement 

In  conclusion  we  wish  to  state  that  in  pre- 
paring these  requests  we  have  no  idea  of 
injecting  ourselves  into  the  present  political 
situation.  On  that  question  we  have  en- 
deavored to  maintain  a  strict  neutrality. 
Whether  Korea  is  granted  independence  or 
home  rule,  whether  the  present  military  govern- 
ment continues  or  is  changed  to  a  civil  adminis- 
tration is  not  a  matter  upon  which  we  can 
make  any  representation.  We  are  missionaries 
commissioned  to  preach  the  gospel  in  Korea, 
and  feel  justified  in  making  representation  to 
any  existing  government  upon  things  affecting 
our  work.  It  is  because  we  have  not  been 
satisfied  with  the  government  regulations  and 
attitude  during  the  last  ten  years,  because  in 
connection  with  the  present  political  dis- 
turbances proposed  changes  are  talked  of  both 
in  the  secular  press  and  in  official  circles,  and 


214         THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

because  we  as  missionaries  have  already  been 
asked  by  a  few  officials  as  to  what  changes 
affecting  our  work  we  would  wish,  that  we 
feel  called  upon  to  draw  up  a  formal  state- 
ment of  this  character. 


B 

A  STATEMENT  OF  MISSIONARY 

POSITION  ON  KOREAN 

AGITATION 

The  political  aspect  of  the  agitation — that  is, 
as  to  whether  Korea  shall  be  entirely  inde- 
pendent of  Japan  or  shall  be  a  part  of  the 
empire  of  Japan — is  not  a  question  with  which 
we  foreigners  have  any  concern.  We  regard 
that  as  a  matter  to  be  settled  between  the 
two  peoples  themselves.  If  Japan  can  make 
it  to  the  interest  of  the  Korean  people  to  be 
politically  under  its  guidance  to  the  extent  that 
the  Koreans  desire  to  be  so  linked  up,  why 
should  we  object?  On  the  other  hand,  if  the 
Japanese  cannot  satisfy  the  Korean  heart,  and 
the  Koreans  can  establish  themselves  as  an 
independent  nation,  why  should  we  stand 
against  such  an  outcome?  It  is  enough  for 
us  that  we  secure  a  fair  opportunity  to  do  the 
work  which  we  are  here  especially  for,  viz., 
to  bring  the  Koreans  to  a  knowledge  of  God 
through  Christ.  It  has  been  laid  down  by 
some  as  a  settled  proposition  that  we  must 
recognize  that  Japan  will  never  give  up  Korea, 
and  so  Korea  must  always  be  a  part  of  Japan; 

215 


216         THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

and  we  are  told  that  we  must  plan  everything 
on  that  basis,  and  so,  while  we  may  urge  the 
government  to  grant  administrative  reforms, 
we  must  make  it  plain  to  the  Koreans  that 
they  must  not  expect  independence. 

Again  we  must  repeat  that  it  is  not  for  us 
to  make  this  matter  plain  to  the  Koreans, 
neither  can  we  or  anyone  else  know  what  is 
to  be  the  future  status  of  these  two  countries 
any  more  than  we  could  have  known  that 
Poland  would  again  become  an  independent 
nation,  or  can  know  what  will  be  the  future 
of  Canada,  or  of  India,  of  Egypt  or  of  the 
Philippine  Islands. 

We  have  recognized,  since  the  annexation, 
the  authority  of  the  present  government,  have 
been  loyal  to  it,  are  so  now,  and  shall  con- 
tinue to  be  so  long  as  it  exists  in  fact.  If  it 
passes  away  and  the  Korean  government  takes 
its  place,  it  will  be  then  our  duty  to  be  loyal 
to  it.  We  are  not  government-makers  or 
government-breakers,  but  are  loyal  to  the 
de  facto  government  under  which  we  live. 
Many  of  us  have  lived  here  since  long  before 
the  present  government  came  into  existence. 
Our  lives  have  been  devoted  to  the  well-being 
of  the  Korean  people,  and  it  is  but  natural 
that  our  sympathies  are  bound  up  in  their 
happiness  so  that  we  want  to  see  them  enjoy 


APPENDICES  217 

the  natural  liberties  of  mankind,  whether  they 
find  them  in  connection  with  Japan  or  as  in- 
dependent people.  Each  of  us  may  have 
his  individual  opinion  as  to  what  political 
status  might  be  best,  but  we  leave  it  to 
the  Korean  people  to  determine  this  for  them- 
selves. 

For  the  reason  set  forth  above  we  have  not 
been  able  to  accede  to  the  request  of  the  gov- 
ernment officials  and  leading  Japanese  citi- 
zens to  use  our  influence  with  the  Koreans  to 
stop  the  agitation  and  return  to  their  former 
acquiescence  in  things  as  they  were.  The 
Koreans  did  not  ask  our  advice  when  they 
began  their  demand  for  independence,  they 
have  not  asked  our  help  in  the  carrying  of  it 
on,  and  it  has  been  made  plain  to  us  that 
they  do  not  want  us  to  interfere  by  proposing 
any  compromise  settlement. 

Even  should  we  feel  inclined  to  try  to  influence 
the  Christians  over  whom  we  might  be  supposed 
to  have  some  influence,  and  even  should  we 
succeed  in  persuading  them  to  desist  from  their 
connection  with  the  agitation,  it  is  to  be  re- 
membered that  the  proportion  of  Christians 
engaged  in  the  demonstrations  is  small  as 
compared  with  the  number  of  non-Christians. 
Our  participation,  therefore,  in  the  struggle, 
whether  on  the  Korean  or  Japanese  side,  would 


218         THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

be  ineffective,  injudicious,  and  contrary  to  our 
position  as  foreigners. 

But  then  it  may  be  asked,  "Why  do  you 
concern  yourselves  with  what  the  police,  gen- 
darmes, and  soldiers  are  doing  in  their  efforts 
to  control  the  agitations?"  Our  answer  is  that, 
quite  apart  from  the  political  question,  there 
are  some  things  that  do  concern  all  true  men 
who  must,  in  such  matters,  act  as  citizens  of 
the  world  rather  than  aliens  in  a  given  country. 
Injustice,  oppression,  and  cruelty,  wherever  per- 
petrated, call  for  protest  from  everyone  cog- 
nizant of  them.  When  it  became  manifest 
that  the  police,  gendarmes,  and  soldiers  were 
deliberately  shooting,  sabering,  bayoneting,  and 
clubbing  unarmed  people,  we  reported  to  the 
government  officials  in  Chosen,  but  our  re- 
ports were  received  as  idle  tales  or  denied  as 
incorrect.  When  deaths  had  multiplied  and 
the  number  of  prisoners  had  amounted  up  to 
thousands,  and  it  was  known  that  prisoners 
were  being  cruelly  tortured,  and  thousands  of 
them  had  been  flogged  until  many  died  as  a 
result;  when  whole  villages  were  burned  to  the 
ground  (317  houses  in  one  neighborhood),  and 
men  were  gathered  in  a  church,  shot  and 
bayoneted,  and  then  burned  in  the  church,  we 
could  no  longer  restrain  our  outraged  feelings, 
and  we  felt  it  impossible  to  live  in  the  midst 


APPENDICES  219 

of  such  methods  without  acquainting  the 
world  with  the  facts,  especially  when  we  re- 
called that  the  world  had  just  been  pouring 
out  its  wealth  and  the  blood  of  its  best  citi- 
zens to  bring  the  era  of  such  things  to  an 
end.  Neither  do  we  consider  that  we  are 
taking  sides  in  the  issue  when  we  state  that 
the  Koreans  are  not  allowed  to  enjoy  such 
ordinary  human  rights  as  freedom  of  speech, 
freedom  of  press,  freedom  to  meet  and  discuss 
with  one  another  their  wants,  right  of  petition 
for  redress,  right  to  read  and  study  the  his- 
tory of  their  own  country,  right  to  use  then- 
own  language  in  studying,  opportunity  to  par- 
ticipate in  the  election  of  those  who  make 
their  laws  or  execute  them,  or  right  to  develop 
their  own  national  spirit.  Their  present  demon- 
stration is  the  outburst  of  this  repression  of 
their  growing  appreciation  of  freedom.  It  was 
made  without  violence,  and  in  our  judgment 
should  have  been  met  with  the  sympathy 
that  might  be  reasonably  expected  from  a 
nation  just  emerging  successfully  from  a  great 
war  fought  for  the  freedom  of  mankind. 


THE  KOREAN  SITUATION 

A  Statement  by  the  Board  of  Bishops 
of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 

With  deep  interest  and  grave  concern  we 
have  heard  of  the  conditions  prevailing  in 
Korea,  which  so  closely  affect  the  prosperous 
and  growing  work  of  our  church  in  that  land. 
Charges  are  made,  and  appear  to  be  sustained 
by  ample  evidence,  that  freedom  of  worship, 
which  is  secured  in  Japan  proper  by  the  con- 
stitution of  the  empire,  is  sadly  limited  in 
Korea  by  the  military  administration.  When  to 
that  is  added  impairment  of  the  elemental 
rights  of  free  speech,  free  publication,  free 
assembly  and  organization;  when  it  is  remem- 
bered that  no  beginnings  of  self-government, 
nor  any  promise  of  such  development  have 
been  made  to  give  hope  to  the  Korean  people; 
and  when  unquestionable  testimony  proves  the 
drastic  and  cruel  treatment  with  which  the 
people  have  in  numerous  instances  been  met 
in  the  recent  unarmed  demonstrations,  we  can- 
not refrain  from  an  expression  of  our  sympathy, 
especially  with  our  Christian  brethren,  some  of 
whom  seem  to  have  suffered  the  more  because 
of  their  religious  faith. 

220 


APPENDICES  221 

These  events  cast  a  deep  shadow  over  the 
notable  achievements  in  material  and  educa- 
tional affairs  which  the  Japanese  government 
has  accomplished  during  its  sovereignty  in  the 
Korean  peninsula. 

Such  events  are  not  to  be  charged  against 
the  whole  Japanese  people,  many  of  whom 
repudiate  most  heartily  the  abuses  which  have 
logically  resulted  from  a  military  government. 
This  feeling,  we  are  assured,  is  also  shared  by 
responsible  statesmen  in  Japan. 

In  a  day  like  this,  whose  watchwords  are 
humanity  and  justice  for  all  men,  including 
the  weaker  nations  and  the  backward  races, 
surely  the  friends  of  liberty  everywhere  may 
confidently  appeal  to  the  higher  sentiments  of 
the  Japanese  nation  for  a  new  consideration 
of  its  relation  to  the  Korean  people. 

With  political  questions  we  have  no  author- 
ity or  wish  to  interfere.  Such  is  our  uniform 
practice  in  foreign  countries  where  our  mis- 
sionaries are  at  work.  But  on  questions  of 
human  right  all  men  should  be  free  to  express 
themselves.  Our  Board  of  Foreign  Missions 
and  our  Woman's  Foreign  Missionary  Society, 
in  their  profound  interest,  look  to  the  Bishops 
as  the  general  executives  of  the  church,  to 
speak  for  the  entire  body. 

We,  therefore,  frankly  urge  that  our  Jap- 


222         THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

anese  ally  in  the  great  war  for  freedom  and 
righteousness — with  whom  friendly  relations 
have  so  long  existed,  and  we  pray  God  may 
continue  to  exist,  now  and  always — accord  to 
the  people  of  Korea  all  those  religious  and 
social  privileges  to  which  all  men  in  these 
days  of  progress  naturally  and  properly  aspire; 
and  we  express  our  ardent  hope  that  every- 
where, in  the  East  and  in  the  West,  may 
speedily  obtain  that  condition  which  is  sought 
alike  by  the  church  and  by  the  state — a  world 
of  peace,  of  justice,  of  freedom  and  of  brother- 
hood. 

Adopted  by  the  Board  of  Bishops  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  June  28,  1919. 
L.  B.  Wilson,  Secretary, 


D1 

TREATY  OF  AMITY  AND  COMMERCE 

BETWEEN  KOREA  AND  THE 

UNITED  STATES, 

MAY  22,  1882 

The  United  States  of  America  and  the  King- 
dom of  Chosen,  being  sincerely  desirous  of 
establishing  permanent  relations  of  amity  and 
friendship  between  their  respective  peoples, 
have  to  this  end  appointed,  that  is  to  say: 
the  President  of  the  United  States,  R.  W. 
Shufeldt,  Commodore,  U.  S.  Navy,  as  his 
Commissioner  Plenipotentiary;  and  His  Maj- 
esty the  King  of  Chosen,  Shin  Chen,  President 
of  the  Royal  Cabinet,  Chin  Hong-chi,  Member 
of  the  Royal  Cabinet,  as  his  Commissioners 
Plenipotentiary;  who,  having  reciprocally  exam- 
ined their  respective  full  powers,  which  have 
been  found  to  be  in  due  form,  have  agreed 
upon  the  several  following  Articles: 

Article  I 
There  shall  be  perpetual  peace  and  friend- 
ship   between    the    President    of    the    United 

1  Appendices  D  to  M  are  taken  from  Korean  Treaties  com- 
piled by  Henry  Chung,  and  are  used  here  with  the  permission 
of  the  compiler. 

223 


224         THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

States  and  the  King  of  Chosen  and  the  citi- 
zens and  subjects  of  their  respective  Govern- 
ments. 

If  other  Powers  deal  unjustly  or  oppressively 
with  either  Government,  the  other  will  exert 
their  good  offices,  on  being  informed  of  the 
case,  to  bring  about  an  amicable  arrangement, 
thus  showing  their  friendly  feelings. 

Article  II 

After  the  conclusion  of  this  treaty  of  amity 
and  commerce,  the  high  contracting  Powers  may 
each  appoint  diplomatic  representatives  to  re- 
side at  the  Court  of  the  other,  and  may  each 
appoint  consular  representatives  at  the  ports 
of  the  other  which  are  open  to.  foreign  com- 
merce, at  their  own  convenience. 

These  officials  shall  have  relations  with  the 
corresponding  local  authorities  of  equal  rank 
upon  a  basis  of  mutual  equality. 

The  Diplomatic  and  Consular  representatives 
of  the  two  Governments  shall  receive  mutually 
all  the  privileges,  rights,  and  immunities,  with- 
out discrimination,  which  are  accorded  to  the 
same  classes  of  representatives  from  the  most 
favoured  nation. 

Consuls  shall  exercise  their  functions  only  on 
receipt  of  an  exequatur  from  the  Government 
to  which  they  are  accredited.     Consular  au- 


APPENDICES  225 

thorities  shall  be  bond  fide  officials.  No  mer- 
chants shall  be  permitted  to  exercise  the  duties 
of  the  office,  nor  shall  consular  officers  be 
allowed  to  engage  in  trade.  At  ports  to  which 
no  consular  representatives  have  been  ap- 
pointed, the  consuls  of  other  Powers  may  be 
invited  to  act,  provided  that  no  merchant  shall 
be  allowed  to  assume  consular  functions,  or 
the  provision  of  this  treaty  may,  in  such  case, 
be  enforced  by  the  local  authorities. 

If  consular  representatives  of  the  United 
States  in  Chosen  conduct  their  business  in  an 
improper  manner,  their  exequaturs  may  be  re- 
voked, subject  to  the  approval,  previously  ob- 
tained, of  the  diplomatic  representative  of  the 

United  States. 

Article  III 

Whenever  United  States  vessels,  either  be- 
cause of  stress  of  weather  or  by  want  of  fuel 
or  provisions,  cannot  reach  the  nearest  open 
port  in  Chosen,  they  may  enter  any  port  or 
harbour  either  to  take  refuge  therein  or  to  get 
supplies  of  wood,  coal,  and  other  necessaries, 
or  to  make  repairs;  the  expenses  incurred 
thereby  being  defrayed  by  the  ship's  master. 
In  such  event,  the  officers  and  people  of  the 
locality  shall  display  their  sympathy  by  ren- 
dering full  assistance,  and  their  liberality  by 
furnishing  the  necessities  required. 


226         THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

If  a  United  States  vessel  carries  on  a  clan- 
destine trade  at  a  port  not  open  to  foreign 
commerce,  such  vessel,  with  her  cargo,  shall 
be  seized  and  confiscated. 

If  a  United  States  vessel  be  wrecked  on  the 
coast  of  Chosen,  the  local  authorities,  on  being 
informed  of  the  occurrence,  shall  immediately 
render  assistance  to  the  crew,  provide  for  their 
present  necessities,  and  take  the  measures 
necessary  for  the  salvage  of  the  ship  and  the 
preservation  of  her  cargo.  They  shall  also 
bring  the  matter  to  the  knowledge  of  the  near- 
est consular  representative  of  the  United 
States,  in  order  that  steps  may  be  taken  to 
send  the  crew  home  and  to  save  the  ship  and 
cargo.  The  necessary  expenses  shall  be  de- 
frayed either  by  the  ship's  master  or  by  the 
United  States. 

Article  IV 

All  citizens  of  the  United  States  of  America 
in  Chosen,  peaceably  attending  to  their  own 
affairs,  shall  receive  and  enjoy  for  themselves 
and  everything  appertaining  to  them  the  pro- 
tection of  the  local  authorities  of  the  Govern- 
ment of  Chosen,  who  shall  defend  them  from 
all  insult  and  injury  of  any  sort.  If  their 
dwellings  or  property  be  threatened  or  attacked 
by  mobs,  incendiaries,  or  other  violent  or 
lawless  persons,  the  local  officers,  on  requisition 


APPENDICES  227 

of  the  Consul,  shall  immediately  dispatch  a 
military  force  to  disperse  the  rioters,  appre- 
hend the  guilty  individuals,  and  punish  them 
with  the  utmost  rigour  of  the  law. 

Subjects  of  Chosen,  guilty  of  any  criminal 
act  towards  citizens  of  the  United  States,  shall 
be  punished  by  the  authorities  of  Chosen 
according  to  the  laws  of  Chosen;  and  citizens 
of  the  United  States,  either  on  shore  or  in  any 
merchant  vessel,  who  may  insult,  trouble,  or 
wound  the  persons,  or  injure  the  property  of 
the  people  of  Chosen,  shall  be  arrested  and 
punished  only  by  the  Consul  or  other  public 
functionary  of  the  United  States  thereto  au- 
thorized, according  to  the  laws  of  the  United 
States. 

When  controversies  arise  in  the  kingdom  of 
Chosen,  between  citizens  of  the  United  States 
and  subjects  of  His  Majesty,  which  need  to  be 
examined  and  decided  by  the  public  officers  of 
the  two  nations,  it  is  agreed  between  the  two 
governments  of  the  United  States  and  Chosen 
that  such  cases  shall  be  tried  by  the  proper 
official  of  the  nationality  of  the  defendant, 
according  to  the  laws  of  that  nation. 

The  properly  authorized  official  of  the  plain- 
tiff's nationality  shall  be  freely  permitted  to 
attend  the  trial,  and  shall  be  treated  with 
the  courtesy  due  to  his  position.     He  shall  be 


228         THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

granted  all  proper  facilities  for  watching  the 
proceedings  in  the  interests  of  justice.  If  he 
so  desires,  he  shall  have  the  right  to  present, 
to  examine,  and  to  cross-examine  witnesses. 
If  he  is  dissatisfied  with  the  proceedings,  he 
shall  be  permitted  to  protest  against  them  in 
detail. 

It  is,  however,  mutually  agreed  and  under- 
stood between  the  high  contracting  Powers, 
that  whenever  the  King  of  Chosen  shall  have 
so  far  modified  and  reformed  the  statutes  and 
judicial  procedure  of  his  kingdom  that,  in  the 
judgment  of  the  United  States,  they  conform 
to  the  laws  and  course  of  justice  in  the  United 
States,  the  right  of  ex-territorial  jurisdiction 
over  United  States  citizens  in  Chosen  shall  be 
abandoned,  and  thereafter  United  States  citi- 
zens, when  within  the  limits  of  the  kingdom 
of  Chosen,  shall  be  subject  to  the  jurisdiction 
of  the  native  authorities. 

Article  V 

Merchants  and  merchant  vessels  of  Chosen 
visiting  the  United  States  for  purposes  of 
traffic  shall  pay  duties  and  tonnage  dues  and 
all  fees  according  to  the  customs  regulations 
of  the  United  States,  but  no  higher  or  other 
rates  of  duties  and  tonnage  dues  shall  be 
exacted  of  them  than  are  levied  upon  citizens 


APPENDICES  229 

of  the  United  States  or  upon  citizens  or  sub- 
jects of  the  most  favoured  nations. 

Merchants  and  merchant  vessels  of  the 
United  States  visiting  Chosen  for  purposes  of 
traffic  shall  pay  duties  upon  all  merchandise 
imported  and  exported.  The  authority  to  levy 
duties  is  of  right  vested  in  the  Government 
of  Chosen.  The  tariff  of  duties  upon  exports 
and  imports,  together  with  the  customs  regula- 
tions for  the  prevention  of  smuggling  and  other 
irregularities,  will  be  fixed  by  the  authorities 
of  Chosen  and  communicated  to  the  proper 
officials  of  the  United  States,  to  be  by  the 
latter  notified  to  their  citizens  and  duly  ob- 
served. 

It  is,  however,  agreed  in  the  first  instance, 
as  a  general  measure,  that  the  tariff  upon  such 
imports  as  are  articles  of  daily  use  shall  not 
exceed  an  ad  valorem  duty  of  ten  per  centum', 
that  the  tariff  upon  such  imports  as  are  lux- 
uries, as,  for  instance,  foreign  wines,  foreign 
tobacco,  clocks  and  watches,  shall  not  exceed 
an  ad  valorem  duty  of  thirty  per  centum;  and 
that  native  produce  exported  shall  pay  a  duty 
not  to  exceed  five  per  centum  ad  valorem.  And 
it  is  further  agreed  that  the  duty  upon  foreign 
imports  shall  be  paid  once  for  all  at  the  port 
of  entry,  and  that  no  other  dues,  duties,  fees, 
taxes,  or  charges  of  any  sort  shall  be  levied 


230         THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

upon  such  imports  either  in  the  interior  of 
Chosen  or  at  the  ports. 

United  States  merchant  vessels  entering  the 
ports  of  Chosen  shall  pay  tonnage  dues  at  the 
rate  of  five  mace  per  ton,  payable  once  in 
three  months  on  each  vessel,  according  to  the 
Chinese  calendar. 

Article  VI 

Subjects  of  Chosen  who  may  visit  the  United 
States  shall  be  permitted  to  reside  and  to  rent 
premises,  purchase  land,  or  to  construct  resi- 
dences or  warehouses,  in  all  parts  of  the  country. 
They  shall  be  freely  permitted  to  pursue  their 
various  callings  and  avocations,  and  to  traffic 
in  all  merchandise,  raw  and  manufactured,  that 
is  not  declared  contraband  by  law. 

Citizens  of  the  United  States  who  may  re- 
sort to  the  ports  of  Chosen  which  are  open  to 
foreign  commerce  shall  be  permitted  to  reside 
at  such  open  ports  within  the  limits  of  the 
concessions,  and  to  lease  buildings  or  land  or 
to  construct  residences  or  warehouses  therein. 
They  shall  be  freely  permitted  to  pursue  their 
various  callings  and  avocations  within  the 
limits  of  the  ports,  and  to  traffic  in  all  mer- 
chandise, raw  and  manufactured,  that  is  not 
declared  contraband  by  law. 

No  coercion  or  intimidation  in  the  acquisition 


APPENDICES  231 

of  land  or  buildings  shall  be  permitted,  and  the 
land  rent  as  fixed  by  the  authorities  of  Chosen 
shall  be  paid.  And  it  is  expressly  agreed  that 
land  so  acquired  in  the  open  ports  of  Chosen 
still  remains  an  integral  part  of  the  kingdom, 
and  that  all  rights  of  jurisdiction  over  persons 
and  property  within  such  areas  remain  vested 
in  the  authorities  of  Chosen,  except  in  so  far 
as  such  rights  have  been  expressly  relinquished 
by  this  treaty. 

American  citizens  are  not  permitted  either  to 
transport  foreign  imports  to  the  interior  for 
sale  or  to  proceed  thither  to  purchase  native 
produce.  Nor  are  they  permitted  to  transport 
native  produce  from  one  open  port  to  another 
open  port. 

Violations  of  this  rule  will  subject  such 
merchandise  to  confiscation,  and  the  merchant 
offending  will  be  handed  over  to  the  consular 
authorities  to  be  dealt  with. 

Article  VII 

The  Governments  of  the  United  States  and 
of  Chosen  mutually  agree  and  undertake  that 
subjects  of  Chosen  shall  not  be  permitted  to 
import  opium  into  any  of  the  ports  of  the 
United  States,  and  citizens  of  the  United 
States  shall  not  be  permitted  to  import  opium 
into  any  of  the  open  ports  of  Chosen,  to  trans- 


232         THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

port  it  from  one  open  port  to  another  open 
port,  or  to  traffic  in  it  in  Chosen.  This  absolute 
prohibition,  which  extends  to  vessels  owned  by 
the  citizens  or  subjects  of  either  Power,  to 
foreign  vessels  employed  by  them,  and  to 
vessels  owned  by  the  citizens  or  subjects  of 
either  Power  and  employed  by  other  persons 
for  the  transportation  of  opium,  shall  be  en- 
forced by  appropriate  legislation  on  the  part 
of  the  United  States  and  of  Chosen,  and 
offenders  against  it  shall  be  severely  punished. 

Abticle  VIII 

Whenever  the  Government  of  Chosen  shall 
have  reason  to  apprehend  a  scarcity  of  food 
within  the  limits  of  the  kingdom,  His  Majesty 
may,  by  decree,  temporarily  prohibit  the  ex- 
port of  all  breadstuffs,  and  such  decree  shall 
be  binding  on  all  citizens  of  the  United  States 
in  Chosen,  upon  due  notice  having  been  given 
them  by  the  authorities  of  Chosen  through  the 
proper  officers  of  the  United  States;  but  it  is 
to  be  understood  that  the  exportation  of  rice 
and  breadstuffs  of  every  description  is  pro- 
hibited from  the  open  port  of  Yin-chuen. 

Chosen  having  of  old  prohibited  the  exporta- 
tion of  red  ginseng,  if  citizens  of  the  United 
States  clandestinely  purchase  it  for  export,  it 
shall  be  confiscated,  and  the  offenders  punished. 


APPENDICES  233 

Article  IX 
The  purchase  of  cannon,  small  arms,  swords, 
gunpowder,  shot,  and  all  munitions  of  war  is 
permitted  only  to  officials  of  the  Government 
of  Chosen,  and  they  may  be  imported  by 
citizens  of  the  United  States  only  under  a 
written  permit  from  the  authorities  of  Chosen. 
If  these  articles  are  clandestinely  imported,  they 
shall  be  confiscated,  and  the  offending  party 
shall  be  punished. 

Article  X 

The  officers  and  people  of  either  nation 
residing  in  the  other  shall  have  the  right  to 
employ  natives  for  all  kinds  of  lawful  work. 

Should,  however,  subjects  of  Chosen,  guilty 
of  violation  of  the  laws  of  the  kingdom,  or 
against  whom  any  action  has  been  brought, 
conceal  themselves  in  the  residences  or  ware- 
houses of  United  States  citizens  or  on  board 
United  States  merchant  vessels,  the  Consular 
authorities  of  the  United  States,  on  being 
notified  of  the  fact  by  the  local  authorities, 
will  either  permit  the  latter  to  despatch  con- 
stables to  make  the  arrests  or  the  persons  will 
be  arrested  by  the  Consular  authorities  and 
handed  over  to  the  local  constables. 

Officials  or  citizens  of  the  United  States  shall 
not  harbour  such  persons. 


234         THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

Article  XI 

Students  of  either  nationality  who  may  pro- 
ceed to  the  country  of  the  other,  in  order  to 
study  the  language,  literature,  laws,  or  arts, 
shall  be  given  all  possible  protection  and 
assistance,  in  evidence  of  cordial  goodwill. 

Article  XII 

This  being  the  first  treaty  negotiated  by 
Chosen,  and  hence  being  general  and  incom- 
plete in  its  provisions,  shall,  in  the  first  in- 
stance, be  put  into  operation  in  all  things 
stipulated  herein.  As  to  stipulations  not  con- 
tained herein,  after  an  interval  of  five  years, 
when  the  officers  and  people  of  the  two  Powers 
shall  have  become  more  familiar  with  each 
other's  language,  a  further  negotiation  of  com- 
mercial provisions  and  regulations  in  detail,  in 
conformity  with  international  law  and  without 
unequal  discriminations  on  either  part,  shall 
be  had. 

Article  XIII 

This  treaty  and  future  official  correspondence 
between  the  two  contracting  governments  shall 
be  made,  on  the  part  of  Chosen,  in  the  Chinese 
language. 

The  United  States  shall  either  use  the 
Chinese  language,  or  if    English  be  used,  it 


APPENDICES  235 

shall  be  accompanied  with  a  Chinese  version, 
in  order  to  avoid  misunderstanding. 

Article  XIV 

The  high  contracting  Powers  hereby  agree 
that  should  at  any  time  the  King  of  Chosen 
grant  to  any  nation,  or  to  the  merchants  or 
citizens  of  any  nation,  any  right,  privilege,  or 
favour,  connected  either  with  navigation,  com- 
merce, political  or  other  intercourse,  which  is 
not  conferred  by  this  treaty,  such  right,  priv- 
ilege, and  favour  shall  freely  inure  to  the 
benefit  of  the  United  States,  its  public  officers, 
merchants,  and  citizens;  provided  always,  that 
whenever  such  right,  privilege,  or  favour  is 
accompanied  by  any  condition  or  equivalent 
concession  granted  by  the  other  nation  in- 
terested, the  United  States,  its  officers  and 
people,  shall  only  be  entitled  to  the  benefit  of 
such  right,  privilege,  or  favour  upon  complying 
with  the  conditions  or  concessions  connected 
therewith. 

In  faith  whereof,  the  respective  Commission- 
ers Plenipotentiary  have  signed  and  sealed  the 
foregoing  at  Yin-chuen,  in  English  and  Chinese, 
being  three  originals  of  each  text,  of  even 
tenor  and  date,  the  ratifications  of  which  shall 
be  exchanged  at  Yin-chuen  within  one  year 
from   the   date   of   its   execution,   and   imme- 


236         THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

diately  thereafter  this  treaty  shall  be  in  all  its 
provisions  publicly  proclaimed  and  made  known 
by  both  governments  in  their  respective  coun- 
tries, in  order  that  it  may  be  obeyed  by  their 
citizens  and  subjects  respectively. 

Chosen,  May  the  22nd,  A.  D.  1882. 
[l.  s.]     (Signed)  R.  W.  Shufeldt, 

Commodore,  U.  S.  N.9  Envoy  of  the  U.  S. 
to  Chosen. 
[l.  s.]     (Signed)  Shin  Chen.  )  (In  Chi- 

[l.  s.]     (Signed)  Chin  Hong-Chi.  1     nese.) 


E 

THE  JAPANESE-KOREAN  TREATY, 
FEBRUARY  26,  1876 

The  Governments  of  Japan  and  Chosen,  be- 
ing desirous  to  resume  the  amicable  relations 
that  of  yore  existed  between  them,  and  to 
promote  the  friendly  feelings  of  both  nations 
to  a  still  firmer  basis,  have  for  this  purpose 
appointed  their  Plenipotentiaries,  that  is  to 
say:  The  Government  of  Japan,  Kuroda 
Kiyotaka,  High  Commissioner  Extraordinary 
to  Chosen,  Lieutenant-General  and  Member  of 
the  Privy  Council,  Minister  of  the  Colonisation 
Department,  and  Inouye  Kaoru,  Associate 
High  Commissioner  Extraordinary  to  Chosen, 
Member  of  the  Genro  In;  and  the  Government 
of  Chosen,  Shin  Ken,  Han-Choo-Su-Fu,  and 
In-Jish6,  Fu-So-Fu,  Fuku-s6-Kwan,  who,  ac- 
cording to  the  powers  received  from  their 
respective  Governments,  have  agreed  upon  and 
concluded  the  following  Articles: 

Article  I 

Chosen  being  an  independent  state  enjoys 
the  same  sovereign  rights  as  does  Japan. 

In  order  to  prove  the  sincerity  of  the  friend- 
ship existing  between  the  two  nations,  their 

237 


238         THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

intercourse  shall  henceforward  be  carried  on  in 
terms  of  equality  and  courtesy,  each  avoiding 
the  giving  of  offence  by  arrogance  or  mani- 
festations of  suspicion. 

In  the  first  instance,  all  rules  and  precedents 
that  are  apt  to  obstruct  friendly  intercourse 
shall  be  totally  abrogated,  and,  in  their  stead, 
rules,  liberal  and  in  general  usage  fit  to  secure 
a  firm  and  perpetual  peace,  shall  be  established. 

Article  II 

The  Government  of  Japan  at  any  time 
within  fifteen  months  from  the  date  of  signa- 
ture of  this  Treaty,  shall  have  the  right  to 
send  an  Envoy  to  the  Capital  of  Chosen,  where 
he  shall  be  admitted  to  confer  with  the  Rei- 
sohan-sho  on  matters  of  a  diplomatic  nature. 
He  may  either  reside  at  the  capital  or  return 
to  his  country  on  the  completion  of  his  mission. 

The  Government  of  Chosen  in  like  manner 
shall  have  the  right  to  send  an  Envoy  to  Tokyo, 
Japan,  where  he  shall  be  admitted  to  confer 
with  the  Minister  for  Foreign  Affairs  on  matters 
of  a  diplomatic  nature.  He  may  either  reside 
at  Tokyo  or  return  home  on  the  completion 
of  his  mission. 

Article  III 

All  official  communications  addressed  by  the 
Government  of  Japan  to  that  of  Chosen  shall 


APPENDICES  239 

be  written  in  the  Japanese  language,  and  for 
a  period  of  ten  years  from  the  present  date 
they  shall  be  accompanied  by  a  Chinese  trans- 
lation. The  Government  of  Chosen  will  use 
the  Chinese  language. 

Article  IV 

Sorio  in  Fusan,  Chosen,  where  an  official 
establishment  of  Japan  is  situated,  is  a  place 
originally  opened  for  commercial  intercourse 
with  Japan,  and  trade  shall  henceforward  be 
carried  on  at  that  place  in  accordance  with 
the  provisions  of  this  Treaty,  whereby  are 
abolished  all  former  usages,  such  as  the  practice 
of  Sai-ken-sen  (junk  annually  sent  to  Chosen 
by  the  late  Prinee  of  Tsushima  to  exchange  a 
certain  quantity  ©Particles  between  each  other). 

In  addition  to  the  above  place,  the  Govern- 
ment of  Chosen  agrees  to  open  two  ports,  as 
mentioned  in  Article  V.  of  this  Treaty,  for 
commercial  intercourse  with  Japanese  subjects. 

In  the  foregoing  places  Japanese  subjects 
shall  be  free  to  lease  land  and  to  erect  build- 
ings thereon,  and  to  rent  buildings  the  prop- 
erty of  subjects  of  Chosen. 

Article  V 

On  the  coast  of  five  provinces,  viz.:  Keikin, 
Chiusei,  Jenra*  Kensho,  and  Kankio,  two  ports, 


240         THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

suitable  for  commercial  purposes,  shall  be  se- 
lected, and  the  time  for  opening  these  two 
ports  shall  be  in  the  twentieth  month  from  the 
second  month  of  the  ninth  year  of  Meiji, 
corresponding  with  the  date  of  Chosen,  the 
first  moon  of  the  year  Hei-shi. 

Article  VI 

Whenever  Japanese  vessels,  either  by  stress 
of  weather  or  by  want  of  fuel  and  provisions, 
cannot  reach  one  or  the  other  of  the  open  ports 
in  Chosen,  they  may  enter  any  ports  or  har- 
bour either  to  take  refuge  therein,  or  to  get 
supplies  of  wood,  coal,  and  other  necessaries, 
or  to  make  repairs;  the  expenses  incurred 
thereby  are  to  be  defrayed  by  the  ship's  master. 
In  such  events  both  the  officers  and  the  people 
of  the  locality  shall  display  their  sympathy  by 
rendering  full  assistance,  and  their  liberality  in 
supplying  the  necessaries  required. 

If  any  vessel  of  either  country  be  at  any 
time  wrecked  or  stranded  on  the  coasts  of 
Japan  or  of  Chosen,  the  people  of  the  vicinity 
shall  immediately  use  every  exertion  to  rescue 
her  crew,  and  shall  inform  the  local  author- 
ities of  the  disaster,  who  will  either  send  the 
wrecked  persons  to  their  native  country  or 
hand  them  over  to  the  officer  of  their  country 
residing  at  the  nearest  port. 


APPENDICES  241 

Article  VII 
The  coasts  of  Chosen,  having  hitherto  been 
left  unsurveyed,  are  very  dangerous  for  vessels 
approaching  them,  and  in  order  to  prepare 
charts  showing  the  positions  of  islands,  rocks, 
and  reefs,  as  well  as  the  depth  of  water  whereby 
all  navigators  may  be  enabled  to  pass  between 
the  two  countries,  any  Japanese  mariners  may 
freely  survey  said  coasts. 

Article  VIII 
There  shall  be  appointed  by  the  Govern- 
ment of  Japan  an  officer  to  reside  at  the  open 
ports  in  Chosen  for  the  protection  of  Japanese 
merchants  resorting  there,  providing  such  ar- 
rangement be  deemed  necessary.  Should  any 
question  interesting  both  nations  arise,  the  said 
officer  shall  confer  with  the  local  authorities 
of  Chosen  and  settle  it. 

Article  IX 

Friendly  relations  having  been  established 
between  the  two  contracting  parties,  their 
respective  subjects  may  freely  carry  on  their 
business  without  any  interference  from  the 
officers  of  either  Government,  and  neither 
limitation  nor  prohibition  shall  be  made  on 
trade. 

In  case  any  fraud  be  committed,  or  pay- 


242         THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

ment  of  debt  be  refused  by  any  merchant  of 
either  country,  the  officers  of  either  one  or  of 
the  other  Government  shall  do  their  utmost 
to  bring  the  delinquent  to  justice  and  to  en- 
force recovery  of  the  debt. 

Neither  the  Japanese  nor  the  Chosen  Govern- 
ment shall  be  held  responsible  for  the  payment 
of  such  debt. 

Article  X 

Should  a  Japanese  subject  residing  at  either 
of  the  open  ports  of  Chosen  commit  any  offence 
against  a  subject  of  Chosen,  he  shall  be  tried 
by  the  Japanese  authorities.  Should  a  sub- 
ject of  Chosen  commit  any  offence  against  a 
Japanese  subject,  he  shall  be  tried  by  the 
authorities  of  Chosen.  The  offenders  shall  be 
punished  according  to  the  laws  of  their  respec- 
tive countries.  Justice  shall  be  equitably  and 
impartially  administered  on  both  sides. 

Article  XI 

Friendly  relations  having  been  established 
between  the  two  contracting  parties,  it  is 
necessary  to  prescribe  trade  relations  for  the 
benefit  of  the  merchants  of  the  respective 
countries. 

Such  trade  regulations,  together  with  de- 
tailed provisions  to  be  added  to  the  Articles  of 
the  present  Treaty,  to  develop  its  meaning  and 


APPENDICES  243 

facilitate  its  observance,  shall  be  agreed  upon 
at  the  capital  of  Chosen  or  at  Kokwa  Fu  in 
the  country,  within  six  months  from  the 
present  date,  by  Special  Commissioners  ap- 
pointed by  the  two  countries. 

Article  XII 

The  foregoing  eleven  Articles  are  binding 
from  the  date  of  the  signing  thereof,  and  shall 
be  observed  by  the  two  contracting  parties, 
faithfully  and  invariably,  whereby  perpetual 
friendship  shall  be  secured  to  the  two  countries. 

The  present  Treaty  is  executed  in  duplicate, 
and  copies  will  be  exchanged  between  the  two 
contracting  parties. 

In  faith  whereof  we,  the  respective  Plenipo- 
tentiaries of  Japan  and  Chosen,  have  affixed 
our  seals  hereunto,  this  twenty-sixth  day  of 
the  second  month  of  the  ninth  year  of  Meiji, 
and  the  two  thousand  five  hundred  and  thirty- 
sixth  since  the  accession  of  Jimmu  Tenno;  and, 
in  the  era  of  Chosen,  the  second  day  of  the 
second  moon  of  the  year  Heishi,  and  of  the 
founding  of  Chosen  the  four  hundred  and 
eighty-fifth. 

(Signed)     Kuroda  Kiyotaka. 
Inouye  Kaortj. 
Shin  Ken. 
In  Ji-sh6. 


SUPPLEMENTARY  TREATY  BETWEEN 
JAPAN  AND  KOREA 

Whereas,  on  the  twenty-sixth  day  of  the 
second  month  of  the  ninth  year  Meiji,  corre- 
sponding with  the  Korean  date  of  the  second 
day  of  the  second  month  of  the  year  Heishi, 
a  Treaty  of  Amity  and  Friendship  was  signed 
and  concluded  between  Kuroda  Kiyotaka, 
High  Commissioner  Extraordinary,  Lieutenant- 
General  of  H.I.J.M.  Army,  Member  of  the 
Privy  Council,  and  Minister  of  the  Colonisation 
Department,  and  Inouye  Kaoru,  Associate 
High  Commissionar  Extraordinary  and  Mem- 
ber of  the  Genro-In,  both  of  whom  had  been 
directed  to  proceed  to  the  city  of  Kokwa  in 
Korea  by  the  Government  of  Japan;  and  Shin 
Ken,  Dai  Kwan,  Han-Choo-Su-Fu,  and  In- 
jisho,  Fu-So-Fu  Fuku-so-Kwan,  both  of  whom 
had  been  duly  commissioned  for  that  purpose 
by  the  Government  of  Korea: — 

Now  therefore,  in  pursuance  of  Article  XI. 
of  the  above  Treaty,  Miyamoto  Okadzu,  Com- 
missioner despatched  to  the  capital  of  Korea, 
Daijo  of  the  Foreign  Department,  and  duly 
empowered    thereto    by    the    Government   of 

244 


APPENDICES  245 

Japan,  and  Chio  Inki,  Koshoo  Kwan, 
Gisheifu-dosho,  duly  empowered  thereto  by 
the  Government  of  Korea,  have  negotiated 
and  concluded  the  following  Articles: — 

Article  I 

Agents  of  the  Japanese  Government  sta- 
tioned at  any  of  the  open  ports  shall  hereafter, 
whenever  a  Japanese  vessel  has  been  stranded 
on  the  Korean  coast,  and  has  need  of  their 
presence  at  the  spot,  have  the  right  to  proceed 
there  on  their  informing  the  local  authorities 
of  the  facts. 

Article  II 

Envoys  or  Agents  of  the  Japanese  Govern- 
ment shall  hereafter  be  at  full  liberty  to 
despatch  letters  or  other  communications  to 
any  place  or  places  in  Korea,  either  by  post 
at  their  own  expense,  or  by  hiring  inhabitants 
of  the  locality  wherein  they  reside  as  special 
couriers. 

Article  III 

Japanese  subjects  may,  at  the  ports  of 
Korea  open  to  them,  lease  land  for  the  pur- 
pose of  erecting  residences  thereon,  the  rent 
to  be  fixed  by  mutual  agreement  between  the 
lessee  and  the  owner. 

Any  lands  belonging  to  the  Korean  Govern- 
ment may  be  rented  by  a  Japanese  on  his 


246         THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

paying  the  same  rent   thereon   as   a  Korean 
subject  would  pay  to  his  Government. 

It  is  agreed  that  the  Shumon  (watch-gate) 
and  the  Shotsumon  (barrier)  erected  by  the 
Korean  Government  near  the  Kokwa  (Japanese 
official  establishment)  in  Sorioko,  Fusan,  shall 
be  entirely  removed,  and  that  a  new  boundary 
line  shall  be  established  according  to  the 
limits  hereinafter  provided.  In  the  other  two 
open  ports  the  same  steps  shall  be  taken. 

Article  IV 

The  limits  within  which  Japanese  subjects 
may  travel  from  the  port  of  Fusan  shall  be 
comprised  within  a  radius  of  ten  ri,  Korean 
measurement,  the  landing-place  in  that  port 
being  taken  as  a  centre. 

Japanese  subjects  shall  be  free  to  go  where 
they  please  within  the  above  limits,  and  shall 
be  therein  at  full  liberty  either  to  buy  articles 
of  local  production  or  to  sell  articles  of  Jap- 
anese production. 

The  town  of  Torai  lies  outside  of  the  above 
limits,  but  Japanese  subjects  shall  have  the 
same  privileges  as  in  those  places  within  them. 

Article  V 
Japanese  subjects  shall  at  each  of  the  open 
ports  of  Korea  be  at  liberty  to  employ  Korean 
subjects. 


APPENDICES  24*7 

Korean  subjects,  on  obtaining  permission 
from  their  Government,  may  visit  the  Japanese 
Empire. 

Article  VI 

In  the  case  of  the  death  of  any  Japanese 
subject  residing  at  the  open  ports  of  Korea, 
a  suitable  spot  of  ground  shall  be  selected 
wherein  to  inter  his  remains. 

As  to  the  localities  to  be  selected  for  cem- 
eteries in  the  two  open  ports  other  than  the 
port  of  Fusan,  in  determining  them  regard 
shall  be  had  as  to  the  distance  there  is  to  the 
cemetery  already  established  at  Fusan. 

Article  VII 

Japanese  subjects  shall  be  at  liberty  to 
traffic  in  any  article  owned  by  Korean  subjects, 
paying  therefor  in  Japanese  coin.  Korean 
subjects,  for  purposes  of  trade,  may  freely 
circulate  among  themselves  at  the  open  ports 
of  Korea  such  Japanese  coin  as  they  may  have 
possession  of  in  business  transactions. 

Japanese  subjects  shall  be  at  liberty  to  use 
in  trade  or  to  carry  away  with  them  the  copper 
coin  of  Korea. 

In  case  any  subject  of  either  of  the  two 
countries  counterfeit  the  coin  of  either  of  them, 
he  shall  be  punished  according  to  the  laws  of 
his  own  country. 


248  THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

Article  VIII 
Korean  subjects  shall  have  the  full  fruition 
of  all  and  every  article  which  they  have  become 
possessed  of  either  by  purchase  or  gift  from 
Japanese  subjects. 

Article  IX 

In  case  a  boat  despatched  by  a  Japanese 
surveying  vessel  to  take  soundings  along  the 
Korean  coasts,  as  provided  for  in  Article  VII 
of  the  Treaty  of  Amity  and  Friendship,  should 
be  prevented  from  returning  to  the  vessel,  on 
account  either  of  bad  weather  or  the  ebb  tide, 
the  headman  of  the  locality  shall  accommodate 
the  boat  party  in  a  suitable  house  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood. Articles  required  by  them  for  their 
comfort  shall  be  furnished  to  them  by  the 
local  authorities,  and  the  outlay  thus  incurred 
shall  afterwards  be  refunded  to  the  latter. 

Article  X 

Although  no  relations  as  yet  exist  between 
Korea  and  foreign  countries,  yet  Japan  has 
for  many  years  back  maintained  friendly  re- 
lations with  them;  it  is  therefore  natural  that 
in  case  a  vessel  of  any  of  the  countries  of 
which  Japan  thus  cultivates  the  friendship 
should  be  stranded  by  stress  of  weather  or 
otherwise  on  the  coasts  of  Korea,   those  on 


APPENDICES  249 

board  shall  be  treated  with  kindness  by  Korean 
subjects,  and  should  such  persons  ask  to  be 
sent  back  to  their  homes  they  shall  be  deliv- 
ered over  by  the  Korean  Government  to  an 
Agent  of  the  Japanese  Government  residing  at 
one  of  the  open  ports  of  Korea,  requesting  him 
to  send  them  back  to  their  native  countries, 
which  request  the  Agent  shall  never  fail  to 
comply  with. 

Article  XI 

The  foregoing  ten  Articles,  together  with  the 
Regulations  for  Trade  annexed  hereto,  shall  be 
of  equal  effect  with  the  Treaty  of  Amity  and 
Friendship,  and  therefore  shall  be  faithfully 
observed  by  the  Governments  of  the  two 
countries.  Should  it,  however,  be  found  that 
any  of  the  above  Articles  actually  cause  em- 
barrassment to  the  commercial  intercourse  of 
the  two  nations,  and  that  it  is  necessary  to 
modify  them,  then  either  Government,  sub- 
mitting its  proposition  to  the  other,  shall 
negotiate  the  modification  of  such  Articles  on 
giving  one  year's  previous  notice  of  their  in- 
tention. 

Signed  and  sealed  this  twenty-fourth  day  of 
the  eighth  month  of  the  ninth  year  Meiji,  and 
two  thousand  five  hundred  and  thirty-sixth 
since  the  accession  of  H.M.Jimmu  Tenno;  and 
of  the  Korean  era,  the  sixth  day  of  the  seventh 


250         THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

month  of  the  year  Heishi,  and  the  founding 
of  Korea  the  four  hundred  and  eighty-fifth. 
(Signed)         Miyamoto  Okadzu, 

Commissioner  and  Dajio  of  the 

Foreign  Department. 

Cho  Inki, 

Kbsho  Kwan,  Gisheifudosho. 


G 

PROTOCOL  CONCLUDED  BETWEEN 
JAPAN  AND  KOREA  ON  FEBRU- 
ARY 23,  1904,  REGARDING 
THE  SITUATION  OF 
KOREA 

Hayashi  Gonsuke,  Envoy  Extraordinary 
and  Minister  Plenipotentiary  of  His  Majesty 
the  Emperor  of  Japan,  and  Major-General 
Ye-tchi-yong,  Minister  of  State  for  Foreign 
Affairs  ad  interim  of  His  Majesty  the  Emperor 
of  Korea,  being  respectively  duly  empowered 
for  the  purpose,  have  agreed  upon  the  follow- 
ing Articles: — 

Article  I 

For  the  purpose  of  maintaining  a  permanent 
and  solid  friendship  between  Japan  and  Korea 
and  firmly  establishing  peace  in  the  Far  East, 
the  Imperial  Government  of  Korea  shall  place 
full  confidence  in  the  Imperial  Government  of 
Japan  and  adopt  the  advice  of  the  latter  in 
regard  to  improvements  in  administration. 

Article  II 
The  Imperial  Government  of  Japan  shall  in 
a  spirit  of  firm  friendship  ensure  the  safety 
and  repose  of  the  Imperial  House  of  Korea. 

251 


252  THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

Article  III 

The  Imperial  Government  of  Japan  definitely 
guarantee  the  independence  and  territorial 
integrity  of  the  Korean  Empire. 

Article  IV 

In  case  the  welfare  of  the  Imperial  House 
of  Korea  or  the  territorial  integrity  of  Korea 
is  endangered  by  aggression  of  a  third  Power 
or  by  internal  disturbances,  the  Imperial 
Government  of  Japan  shall  immediately  take 
such  necessary  measures  as  the  circumstances 
require,  and  in  such  cases  the  Imperial  Govern- 
ment of  Korea  shall  give  full  facilities  to  pro- 
mote the  action  of  the  Imperial  Japanese 
Government. 

The  Imperial  Government  of  Japan  may,  for 
the  attainment  of  the  above-mentioned  objects, 
occupy,  when  the  circumstances  require  it, 
such  places  as  may  be  necessary  from  stra- 
tegical points  of  view. 

Article  V 

The  Governments  of  the  two  countries  shall 
not  in  future,  without  mutual  consent,  con- 
clude with  a  third  Power  such  an  arrange- 
ment as  may  be  contrary  to  the  principles  of 
the  present  Protocol. 


APPENDICES  25S 

Article  VI 

Details  in  connection  with  the  present  Proto- 
col shall  be  arranged,  as  the  circumstances  may 
require,  between  the  Representative  of  Japan 
and  the  Minister  of  State  for  Foreign  Affairs 
of  Korea. 

Hayashi  Gonsuke,  (Seal.) 
Envoy  Extraordinary  and  Minister 
Plenipotentiary . 
The  23rd  day  of  the  2nd  month  of  the  37th 
year  of  Meiji. 

Major-General  Ye  Tchi-yong,  (Seal). 
Minister  of  State  for  Foreign  Affairs 
ad  interim. 
The  23rd  day  of  the  2nd  month  of  the  8th 
year  of  Kwang-mu. 


H 

AGREEMENT  BETWEEN  JAPAN  AND 

KOREA,  SIGNED  AUGUST  22,  1904 

RELATING  TO  FINANCIAL  AND 

DIPLOMATIC  ADVISERS 

Article  I 
The  Korean  Government  shall  engage  as 
financial  adviser  to  the  Korean  Government  a 
Japanese  subject  recommended  by  the  Jap- 
anese Government,  and  all  matters  concerning 
finance  shall  be  dealt  with  after  his  counsel 
has  been  taken. 

Article  II 

The  Korean  Government  shall  engage  as 
diplomatic  adviser  to  the  Department  of  For- 
eign Affairs  a  foreigner  recommended  by  the 
Japanese  Government,  and  all  important  mat- 
ters concerning  foreign  relations  shall  be  dealt 
with  after  his  counsel  has  been  taken. 

Article  III 

The  Korean  Government  shall  previously 
consult  the  Japanese  Government  in  conclud- 
ing treaties  and  conventions  with  foreign 
powers,  and  in  dealing  with  other  important 

254 


APPENDICES  355 

diplomatic  affairs,  such  as  the  grant  of  con- 
cessions to  or  contracts  with  foreigners. 

Hayashi  Gonsuke,  (Seal). 
Envoy  Extraordinary  and  Minister 
Plenipotentiary . 
The  22nd  day  of  the  8th  month  of  the  37th 
year  of  Meiji. 

Yun  Chi-ho,  (Seal). 
Acting  Minister  of  State  for 
Foreign  Affairs. 
The  22nd  day  of  the  8th  month  of  the  8th 
year  of  Kwang-mu. 


AGREEMENT  BETWEEN  JAPAN  AND 
KOREA,  SIGNED  APRIL  1,  1905, 
REGARDING  COMMUNICA- 
TIONS SERVICES 

The  Imperial  Governments  of  Japan  and 
Korea,  finding  it  expedient  from  the  stand- 
point of  the  administration  and  finances  of 
Korea,  to  rearrange  the  system  of  communica- 
tions in  that  country,  and,  by  amalgamating 
it  with  that  of  Japan,  to  unite  the  two  systems 
into  one  common  to  the  two  countries,  and, 
having  seen  the  necessity,  with  that  object 
in  view,  of  transferring  the  post,  telegraph  and 
telephone  services  of  Korea  to  the  control  of 
the  Japanese  Government,  Hayashi  Gonsuke, 
Envoy  Extraordinary  and  Minister  Plenipoten- 
tiary of  Japan,  and  I  Ha-yeng,  Minister  of 
State  for  Foreign  Affairs  of  Korea,  each  in- 
vested with  proper  authority,  have  agreed  upon 
and  concluded  the  following  Articles: — 

Article  I 

The  Imperial  Government  of  Korea  shall 
transfer  and  assign  the  control  and  adminis- 
tration of  the  post,  telegraph  and  telephone 

256 


APPENDICES  257 

services  in  Korea  (except  the  telephone  service 
exclusively  pertaining  to  the  Department  of  the 
Imperial  Household)  to  the  Imperial  Japanese 
Government. 

Article  II 

The  land,  buildings,  furnitures,  instruments, 
machines  and  all  other  appliances  connected 
with  the  system  of  communications  already 
established  by  the  Imperial  Government  of 
Korea,  shall,  by  virtue  of  the  present  Agree- 
ment, be  transferred  to  the  control  of  the 
Imperial  Japanese  Government. 

The  Authorities  of  the  two  countries  acting 
together  shall  make  an  inventory  of  the  land, 
buildings  and  all  other  requisites  mentioned 
in  the  preceding  paragraph,  which  inventory 
shall  serve  as  evidence  in  the  future. 

Article  III 

When  it  is  deemed  necessary  by  the  Japanese 
Government  to  extend  the  communications  sys- 
tem in  Korea,  they  may  appropriate  land 
and  buildings  belonging  to  the  State  or  to 
private  persons;  the  former  without  compensa- 
tion and  the  latter  with  proper  indemnification. 

Article  IV 

In  respect  of  the  control  of  the  communi- 
cations service  and  the  custody  of  the  prop- 


258         THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

erties  in  connection  therewith,  the  Japanese 
Government  assume,  on  their  own  account, 
the  responsibility  of  good  administration. 

The  expenses  required  for  the  extension  of 
the  communications  services  shall  also  be 
borne  by  the  Imperial  Government  of  Japan. 

The  Imperial  Government  of  Japan  shall 
officially  notify  the  Imperial  Government  of 
Korea  of  the  financial  condition  of  the  sys- 
tem of  communications  under  their  control. 

Article  V 

All  appliances  and  materials  which  are 
deemed  necessary  by  the  Imperial  Govern- 
ment of  Japan  for  the  control  or  extension  of 
the  system  of  communications  shall  be  ex- 
empt from  all  duties  and  imposts. 

Article  VI 

The  Imperial  Government  of  Korea  shall 
be  at  liberty  to  maintain  the  present  Board 
of  Communications  so  far  as  such  retention 
does  not  interfere  with  the  control  and  ex- 
tension of  the  services  by  the  Japanese  Govern- 
ment. 

The  Japanese  Government,  in  controlling 
and  extending  the  services,  shall  engage  as 
many  Korean  officials  and  employees  as  pos- 
sible. 


APPENDICES  259 

Article  VII 

In  respect  of  the  arrangements  formerly 
entered  into  by  the  Korean  Government  with 
the  Governments  of  foreign  Powers  concerning 
the  post,  telegraph  and  telephone  services,  the 
Japanese  Government  shall  in  behalf  of  Korea 
exercise  the  rights  and  perform  the  obligations 
pertaining  thereto. 

Should  there  arise  in  the  future  any  necessity 
for  concluding  any  new  convention  between 
the  Government  of  Korea  and  the  Govern- 
ments of  Foreign  Powers  concerning  the  com- 
munications services,  the  Japanese  Government 
shall  assume  the  responsibility  of  concluding 
such  convention  in  behalf  of  the  Korean 
Government. 

Article  VIII 

The  various  conventions  and  agreements  re- 
specting the  communications  services  hitherto 
existing  between  the  Governments  of  Japan 
and  Korea  are  mutually  abolished  or  modified 
by  the  present  Agreement. 

Article  IX 

When  in  the  future  as  a  result  of  the  general 
development  of  the  communications  system  in 
Korea,  there  is  some  adequate  profit  over 
and  above  expenditures  defrayed  by  the  Jap- 
anese Government  for  the  control  and  main- 


260         THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

tenance  of  the  old  services  and  for  their  exten- 
sions and  improvements,  the  Japanese  Govern- 
ment shall  deliver  to  the  Korean  Government 
a  suitable  percentage  of  such  profit. 

Article  X 

When  in  the  future  an  ample  surplus  exists 
in  the  finances  of  the  Korean  Government, 
the  control  of  their  communications  services 
may  be  returned  to  the  Government  of  Korea, 
in  the  sequel  of  consultation  between  the  two 
Governments. 

HayasHi  Gonsuke,  (Seal). 
Envoy  Extraordinary  and  Minister 
Plenipotentiary. 
The  1st  day  of  the  4th  month  of  the  38th 
year  of  Meiji. 

I  Ha-yeng,  (Seal). 
Minister  of  State  for  Foreign  Affairs. 
The  1st  day  of  the  4th  month  of  the  9th  year 
of  Kwang-mu. 


AGREEMENT  RESPECTING  THE 
COAST  TRADE  OF  KOREA 

The  Imperial  Governments  of  Japan  and 
Korea,  deeming  it  necessary,  for  the  purpose 
of  improving  the  trade,  and  promoting  the 
development  of  the  resources,  of  Korea,  to 
allow  navigation  by  Japanese  vessels  along  the 
coasts  and  in  the  inland  waters  of  Korea, 
Hayashi  Gonsuke,  Envoy  Extraordinary  and 
Minister  Plenipotentiary  of  Japan,  and  I  Ha- 
yeng,  Minister  of  State  for  Foreign  Affairs  of 
Korea,  duly  authorized  by  their  respective 
Governments  for  the  purpose,  have  agreed  upon 
the  following  Articles: 

Article  I 
Japanese  vessels  shall  be  at  liberty  to  nav- 
igate along  the  coasts  and  in  the  inland  waters 
of  Korea  for  the  purpose  of  trade  in  accord- 
ance with  the  stipulations  of  the  present  Agree- 
ment, which,  however,  shall  not  be  applicable 
to  navigation  between  the  open  ports. 

Article  II 
Licenses  shall  be  obtained  for  all  Japanese 
vessels  to  be  employed  in  navigation  of  the 

261 


262         THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

coasts  and  inland  waters,  upon  reporting 
through  the  Japanese  Consular  Officers  to  the 
Korean  Customs  the  names  and  residences  of 
the  owners,  the  names,  types  and  carrying 
capacity  of  the  vessels,  as  well  as  the  limits 
within  which  such  vessels  are  to  navigate. 

Licenses  shall  be  available  for  one  year  from 
the  date  of  their  issue. 

Article  III 
Upon  receipt  of  a  license,  fees  shall  be  paid 
to  the  Korean  Customs  according  to  the  fol- 
lowing rates: 

For  a  vessel  of  foreign  type  below 

100  tons, 15.00 

For  a  vessel  of  Japanese  type, 15.00 

For  a  vessel  of  foreign  type  above 

100  and  below  500  tons, 50.00 

For  a  vessel  of  foreign  type  above 

500  and  below  1,000  tons, 100.00 

For  a  vessel  of  foreign  type  above 

1,000  tons, 150.00 

Article  IV 
Japanese  vessels  may  freely  navigate  within 
the  limits  specified,  but  shall  not  proceed  to 
any  place  not  in  Korean  territory,  except  in 
case  of  stress  of  weather  or  other  emergency, 
or  in  case  special  permission  has  been  obtained 
from  the  Korean  Customs. 


APPENDICES  263 

Article  V 

The  licenses  shall  be  carried  on  board  the 
vessels  during  their  voyages,  and  shall  be 
shown  whenever  requested  by  the  Korean  Cus- 
toms, or  by  local  officials  of  Korea,  or  by 
Chiefs  of  villages  duly  authorized  by  such 
local  officials. 

Article  VI 

Japanese  shipowners  shall  have  liberty  to 
lease  land  for  the  purpose  of  building  ware- 
houses at  the  places  where  their  vessels  call. 

Such  owners  may  also  construct  piers  or 
wharves  on  the  banks  and  coasts  with  the 
permission  of  the  Korean  Customs. 

Article  VII 

In  case  of  infraction  of  the  present  Agree- 
ment by  a  Japanese  vessel,  the  Korean  Cus- 
toms may  cause  the  license  of  such  vessel  to 
be  confiscated,  or  may  refuse  to  issue  a  new 
one,  if  the  offence  be  found,  upon  examination, 
to  be  of  a  grave  nature. 

Article  VIII 

When  a  Japanese  vessel,  or  the  crew  thereof, 
infringes  the  stipulations  of  the  present  Agree- 
ment or  of  other  treaties,  or  when  a  member 
of  the  crew  commits  any  crime,  the  Japanese 


264         THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

Consular  Officers  shall  deal  with  the  case  in 
accordance  with  the  provisions  of  the  treaties 
and  the  laws  of  Japan. 

Article  IX 

The  present  Agreement  shall  remain  in  force 
for  a  period  of  fifteen  years  from  the  date  of 
its  signature,  and,  after  the  expiration  of  such 
period,  further  arrangements  may  be  made  by 
mutual  agreement. 

The  two  Governments  may,  however,  con- 
clude such  an  agreement  by  mutual  consent 
even  before  the  expiration  of  the  aforesaid 
term,  when  in  future  the  navigation  of  Korea 
shall  be  further  developed. 

Hayashi  Gonsuke,  (Seal). 
Envoy  Extraordinary  and  Minister 
Plenipotentiary . 
The  13th  day  of  the  8th  month  of  the  38th 
year  of  Meiji. 

I  Ha-yeng,  (Seal). 
Minister  of  State  for  Foreign  Affairs. 
The  13th  day  of  the  8th  month  of  the  9th 
year  of  Kwang-mu. 


AGREEMENT  BETWEEN  JAPAN  AND 

KOREA,    SIGNED    NOVEMBER     17, 

1905,  BY  WHICH  JAPAN  ASSUMED 

CHARGE    OF    THE    FOREIGN 

RELATIONS  OF  KOREA 

The  Governments  of  Japan  and  Korea,  de- 
siring to  strengthen  the  principle  of  solidarity 
which  unites  the  two  Empires,  have  with  that 
object  in  view  agreed  upon  and  concluded  the 
following  stipulations  to  serve  until  the  mo- 
ment arrives  when  it  is  recognized  that  Korea 
has  attained  national  strength: — 

Article  I 

The  Government  of  Japan,  through  the 
Department  of  Foreign  Affairs  at  Tokyo,  will 
hereafter  have  control  and  direction  of  the 
external  relations  and  affairs  of  Korea,  and 
the  diplomatic  and  consular  representatives  of 
Japan  will  have  charge  of  the  subjects  and 
interests  of  Korea  in  foreign  countries. 

Article  II 

The  Government  of  Japan  undertake  to  see 
to  the  execution  of  the  treaties  actually  exist- 


$66         THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

ing  between  Korea  and  other  Powers,  and  the 
Government  of  Korea  engage  not  to  conclude 
hereafter  any  act  or  engagement  having  an 
international  character  except  through  the 
medium  of  the  Government  of  Japan. 

Article  III 

The  Government  of  Japan  shall  be  repre- 
sented at  the  Court  of  His  Majesty  the  Em- 
peror of  Korea  by  a  Resident-General,  who 
shall  reside  at  Seoul,  primarily  for  the  purpose 
of  taking  charge  of  and  directing  matters  re- 
lating to  diplomatic  affairs.  He  shall  have  the 
right  of  private  and  personal  audience  of  His 
Majesty  the  Emperor  of  Korea.  The  Japanese 
Government  shall  also  have  the  right  to  sta- 
tion Residents  at  the  several  open  ports  and 
such  other  places  in  Korea  as  they  may  deem 
necessary.  Such  Residents  shall,  under  the 
direction  of  the  Resident-General,  exercise  the 
powers  and  functions  hitherto  appertaining  to 
Japanese  Consuls  in  Korea,  and  shall  perform 
such  duties  as  may  be  necessary  in  order  to 
carry  into  full  effect  the  provisions  of  this 
Agreement. 

Article  IV 

The  stipulations  of  all  Treaties  and  Agree- 
ments existing  between  Japan  and  Korea,  not 


APPENDICES  267 

inconsistent  with  the  Provisions  of  this  Agree- 
ment, shall  continue  in  force. 

Article  V 

The  Government  of  Japan  undertake  to 
maintain  the  welfare  and  dignity  of  the  Im- 
perial House  of  Korea. 

In  faith  whereof,  the  Undersigned  duly 
authorized  by  their  Governments  have  signed 
this  Agreement  and  affixed  their  seals. 

Hayashi  Gonsuke,  (Seal). 
Envoy  Extraordinary  and  Minister 
Plenipotentiary. 
The  17th  day  of  the  11th  month  of  the  38th 
year  of  Meiji. 

Pak  Che-soon,  (Seal). 
Minister  of  State  for  Foreign  Affairs. 
The  17th  day  of  the  11th  month  of  the  9th 
year  of  Kwang-mu. 


AGREEMENT  BETWEEN  JAPAN  AND 

KOREA,  SIGNED  ON  JULY  24,  1907, 

RELATING  TO  THE  INTERNAL 

ADMINISTRATION  OF 

KOREA 

The  Government  of  Japan  and  the  Govern- 
ment of  Korea,  desiring  to  attain  the  speedy 
development  of  the  strength  and  resources  of 
Korea  and  to  promote  the  welfare  of  her  peo- 
ple, have  with  that  object  in  view  agreed  upon 
the  following  stipulations: — 

Article  I 

The  government  of  Korea  shall  act  under 
the  guidance  of  the  Resident-General  in  respect 
to  reforms  in  administration. 

Article  II 

The  Government  of  Korea  engage  not  to 
enact  any  laws,  ordinances  or  regulations,  or 
to  take  any  important  measures  of  adminis- 
tration without  the  previous  assent  of  the 
Resident-General. 

268 


APPENDICES  269 

Akticle  III 

The  judicial  affairs  in  Korea  shall  be  set 
apart  from  the  affairs  of  ordinary  adminis- 
tration. 

Article  IV 

The  appointment  and  dismissal  of  all  high 
officials  in  Korea  shall  be  made  upon  the  con- 
currence of  the  Resident-General. 

Article  V 

The  Government  of  Korea  shall  appoint  as 
Korean  officials  the  Japanese  subjects  recom- 
mended by  the  Resident-General. 

Article  VI 

The  Government  of  Korea  shall  not  engage 
any  foreigner  without  the  concurrence  of  the 
Resident-General. 

Article  VII 

Article  I.  of  the  Protocol  between  Japan  and 
Korea  signed  on  the  22nd  of  August,  1905, 
shall  hereafter  cease  to  be  binding. 

In  witness  whereof  the  Undersigned,  duly 
authorized  by  their  respective   Governments, 


no         THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

have  signed  this  Agreement,  and  have  affixed 
thereto  their  seals. 

Marquis  Herobumi  Ito,  (Seal). 
H.  I.  J.  M.'s  Resident-General. 
The  24th  day  of  the  7th  month  of  the  40th 
year  of  Meiji. 

Yi  Wan-yong,  (Seal). 

Minister  President  of  State. 
The  24th  day  of  the  7th  month  of  the  11th 
year  of  Kwang-mu. 


M 

THE    TREATY   OF  ANNEXATION, 
SIGNED  AUGUST  29TH,  1910,  BE- 
TWEEN RESIDENT-GENERAL 
VISCOUNT  TERAUCHI  AND 
MR.  YI  WAN-YONG,  MIN- 
ISTER PRESIDENT  OF 
STATE  OF  KOREA 

Article  I 
The  Emperor  of  Korea  to  make  complete 
and  permanent  cession  to  the  Emperor  of  Japan 
of  all  rights  of  sovereignty  over  the  whole  of 
Korea. 

Article  II 

The  Emperor  of  Japan  to  accept  the  above- 
mentioned  cession,  and  to  consent  to  the  com- 
plete annexation  of  Korea  to  the  Empire  of 
Japan. 

Article  III 

The  Emperor  of  Japan  to  accord  to  the 
Emperor  of  Korea,  ex-Emperor  and  Crown 
Prince  of  Korea  and  their  Consorts  such  titles, 
dignities  and  honours  as  are  appropriate  to 
their  respective  ranks,  and  sufficient  annual 
grants  to  be  made  for  the  maintenance  of  such 
titles,  dignities  and  honours. 

271 


m%         THE  REBIRTH  OF  KOREA 

Article  IV 

The  relatives  of  the  Emperor  of  Korea  also 
to  receive  due  dignities,  titles,  honours  and 
solatia. 

Article  V 

The  Emperor  of  Japan  to  confer  peerages 
and  monetary  grants  upon  Koreans  who,  on 
account  of  meritorious  services,  are  regarded 
as  deserving  such  special  recognition. 

Article  VI 

In  consequence  of  the  aforesaid  Annexation, 
the  Government  of  Japan  will  assume  the  en- 
tire government  and  administration  of  Chosen 
and  undertake  to  afford  full  protection  for  the 
life  and  property  of  Koreans  obeying  the  laws 
in  force,  and  to  promote  the  welfare  of  all 

such. 

Article  VII 

The  Government  of  Japan,  so  far  as  circum- 
stances permit,  will  employ  in  the  public  serv- 
ice of  Japan  Koreans  who  accept  the  new 
regime  loyally  and  in  good  faith  and  who  are 
duly  qualified  for  such  service. 


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